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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782623">The World of Magic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feleanne/pseuds/Feleanne'>Feleanne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Little Witch Academia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Atsuko's Dad (Mentioned in passing), F/F, Going to be Very Gay, Hannah and Barbara Lowkey Kinda Gay, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trans Female Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:20:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>35,779</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782623</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feleanne/pseuds/Feleanne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In this Little Witch Academia rewrite, titled "The World of Magic," we will go over the story of the Anime, changing some things significantly, and heavily changing the setting that is Luna Nova itself, and some other aspects surrounding it! </p><p>The story continues as the relationship between Diana and Akko blossoms over time, and the various exploits of the group of Akko, Lotte, and Sucy happen as well!</p><p>This is my first fic I've uploaded, so please do send me feedback, I wish to only grow more as a writer, thank you very much in advance!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Atsuko "Akko" Kagari &amp; Sucy Manbavaran &amp; Lotte Yanson, Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, Hannah England/Barbara Parker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story was heavily inspired by the various works of Momoxtoshiro, who you can also find on this site, and ff.net! Please, do give them attention as well if you happen to find this first, and do not know of them! I hope you enjoy, as this will undoubtedly be a very long ride!</p><p>I will also be working on another project in conjunction, but this will still be hopefully regularly updated! Please, do stay tuned, and enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>“Geez… how did you manage to learn this when you were a kid?! I can barely do it now!”</p><p>The sounds of scribbles filled the air, scratching on a modest sheet of parchment. Much more informal and childish than that of a distinguished person. But, it had only been her first few times at attempting such a writing style, so it wasn’t difficult to understand the struggle.</p><p>“Calm yourself, it’ll get much more simple with time, but also patience. It’s an elegant form, try treating it as such, hm?”</p><p>The brunette turned her head to the white haired maiden. She smiled at her, but quickly stuck out her tongue in a childish manner.</p><p>“Well, why don’t you get a little closer so I have something elegant to focus on?” She retorted with gusto and whimsy. She always adored that about her, the determination that seeped through the childlike wordplay. She couldn’t help but blush at the brunette’s childish words, it’s hard not too. She did as they suggested, and leaned in closer, which allowed the brunette to rest her head close to her chest, allowing her to hear their heartbeat. It felt methodical in a way, so smoothly it thumped against her chest, almost as if it was playing it’s own melody, a soliloquy that only showed her full attention towards them, and the love that followed with. She lingered there for a fair amount of time, which made the white haired girl follow up with her hand gently resting on her head, and curling her fingers through the brunette’s locks.</p><p>After a few moments, she felt much more calm, composed. A deep breath in, and out, she leaned forward once more, and calmly stroked her pen across the parchment, practicing her own signature to keep it simple as possible. She mastered what each letter looked like, but had troubles with connecting them together, forming art with their strokes as they completed their work. With a clear mind, devoid of all other distractions and thoughts other than the loved one at their side, she slid the pen across, allowing her fingers to dip and dive to form elegant curves, connecting each word properly. Only four was all they needed, but it felt infinitely as hard as writing out a full paper in succession. She finally finished the last letter, but decided to ride the feeling she had in her head, and drew a simple, 5 pointed star at the very end, accented with a line sparkling outward to display it moving. She finally broke out of her trance when they heard the white haired girl behind her giggle.</p><p>“My, I didn’t know that I’d be competing with such an adorably elegant signature.” She said to her, rubbing her hand through the brunette’s hair.</p><p>“Hey, it wouldn’t be a signature from yours truly without a little something extra!” They responded back, leaning back a bit confidently. “But now I just gotta finish this test invite…”</p><p>She leaned forward again, and jumbled around a bit, moving various sheets of paper to locate both her magic wand, and a small container, that held various lumps of colored wax. She tapped the wand against her temple a bit in thought, and grabbed both the red and blue colors of wax, along with a stamp, and a thin, plastic and hollow circle. Further digging into the mess of the table she was sitting at, she opened a drawer to her side, and found within it an envelope, plain and white. Finally, she set the envelope down in front of her, and set gently over the letter’s middle the small plastic circle, perfectly over the bit of paper that held its contents.</p><p>“If you don’t mind my asking, but what exactly are you planning with two kinds of wax?” The white haired girl said, leaning over more so to inspect what the brunette laid out.</p><p>“I had this idea, considering where we’re holding this thing, why not make it all the more personal! Especially for those who will be attending!” She responded, beaming up at them. It took her but a moment to realize what exactly she was planning when she connected the dots as to why she specifically chose the color red and blue.</p><p>“I didn’t think of that, how creative.” They told the brunette, rubbing her hand along their shoulder. “Although, do you know what will happen should the wax mix into a different color?”</p><p>“That’s why I have my wand, silly!” They said quickly back, with a smile and face of determination along with it. She then sat herself back, and aimed her wand at the 2 lumps of wax that sat on the table. After reciting a few incantations, the wax began to levitate, and hovered over the envelope, and the tiny plastic circle. A small spark formed, making a tiny flame directly under the bits of wax, that then moved itself upward after the brunette realized she casted it in the wrong place, with a small squeak in response. She then casted the fire into the wax itself, moving through the middle of the two, causing both lumps to melt slowly. The drops carrened downward into the interior of the plastic, keeping it in the perfect place. The white haired girl realized that she had been able to perfectly keep the wax in place, causing them both to melt at the same speed, and the droplets to line up on their own sides, causing one half of the soon-to-be seal to be red, the other half blue. Each passing second the wax itself began to blend into each other, but still keeping the stark contrasting red and blue colors, with very minimal splotches of purple. She’d come a very long way from their school days, having become almost as adept in magic as her partner even. Long nights of training seemed much more fruitful, now that she can see her being able to cast such adept magic so simply, although sometimes still screwing up, but not at all far off from the mark.</p><p>She finally rested her wand down, along with a sharp waft of cold air into the wax to cool it off. The bits of wax followed the wand, and rested nearby. The brunette then wasted no time in grabbing the stamp once more, tossing it in her hand and catching it again for effect. She then quickly removed the plastic circle, and stamped on the wax, forming the seal. After a few seconds, they took off the stamp, and quickly picked up her wand again to make another sharp gust of cold wind to cool down the wax, to complete the seal. The beautiful mark of the Cavendish rested on the envelope. The brunette giggled excitedly, and rested herself back again in the chair.</p><p>“It turned out a lot better than I thought! Minimal purple though, but nothing’s perfect!” She said between her own giggles. The white haired girl then kissed her hair as she picked up the letter to inspect it.</p><p>“Very well done, perfectly placed as well... The seal looks quite nice in more than one color, I must admit.” She said as she looked at the envelope, proud of the work the brunette had done. “Although, I do wonder how much wax we will need now, we have many invitations to send out, after all.”</p><p>The brunette then stood still for a moment, and slumped down, remembering now how many invites that needed to be done. “Geez, I totally forgot… are we going to need to make tons for the students as well..?” They said with a hint of despair, but not at all genuine sadness. Just accentuating her future and obviously upcoming exhaustion. The white haired girl only giggled, and rested herself against the brunette.</p><p>“It won’t be more than just our own families and acquaintances, an invitation for every student of this year would be too much when they already agreed on allowing the school to attend just the first part. Although, we still might need a fair bit of time to finish all these invitations…” She said, voice trailing off into thought. She knew who she wanted to invite personally to the after party and other activities, as well as who she knew the other would invite to some degree, but she was unsure truly the scope of the brunette’s family tree.</p><p>“Who do you wish to invite from your family tree? I’m afraid I never really asked how big your family is despite how long we’ve been together. My apologies.” They then finally spoke, looking deep into the brunette’s chestnut eyes. She felt a bit upset with herself, having completely forgotten about that aspect of her partner, but she knew she wouldn’t mind much.</p><p>“Oh, you’re right! I never really mentioned it either, so it’s okay! But, now that I think about it… I only feel comfortable with inviting my Mom and Dad, along with some of my grandparents that I knew much better than the rest. It shouldn’t be more than... 10 people?” She said, with a fair bit of thinking behind it. She then got out a vacant piece of paper, and quickly wrote down a few names, some of which the white haired girl knew, some not.</p><p>“This should be perfect! I can’t help but feel a bit bad though leaving some people out, but I think they’ll understand! None of them are really magical either though, so it’s not like they’ll crash anything at least!” She said with a few laughs. The white haired witch couldn’t entirely hide a bit of worry, but it was quickly shot down by the fact that the brunette was entirely right. She knew well about one aspect of their family, barely if at all any of them were adept in magic, or witches.</p><p>“Well, I believe the most we have to do now is finish all the copies of the invitations, and a few personal invites to make.” The white haired witch responded after a few seconds. “I hope you’re able to handle it.” She then followed up with kissing the brunette’s cheek, which caused her to blush.</p><p>“I-I can handle anything, you know that! If I can fight off a dragon, save the world, confess to my beloved, propose to them too, I can make a few letters!” She responded with a stumble at the beginning, but quickly giggled at how red the white haired witch got at that comment. “Come on, you still get embarrassed over that stuff when we’ve been together for years~?” She teased, following up with a kiss on the lips, making the white haired witch look almost entirely red.</p><p>“W-We’ve been together for 6 long years, yes… But I apologize for still being… rather skittish sometimes.” She said after a few seconds of pondering how to form the next sentence. The brunette only laughed more, and finally stood up to hug their white haired partner.</p><p>“Want to look over the invitation one last time before we go to bed, or do you wanna just cuddle now~?” The brunette said, placing her arms on their partner’s shoulders and giggling some more.</p><p>“J-Just one more read-over, if that is alright with you…” They said as they turned away slightly, still very red in the face.</p><p>“Of course! I’m not actually sure of it myself until we can both agree on it being perfect!” The brunette beamed. She then held the white haired witch’s hand, and pulled out another chair, sitting them both down in front of the desk. The brunette dug around and finally picked up what looked to be a finished version of the invitation they planned to send out to their important guests, a finalized version of what soon would be many more. At the very bottom, rested the signature the brunette had been practicing just earlier, along with a matching one right next to it, belonging to that of the white haired witch.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <em>You have been one of few, to be cordially invited to a very special wedding, and important event, sponsored by the Cavendish Family, and the magical institution of Luna Nova. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Please, do bring this letter along with you, as this is your key to access the after party there-after the wedding of the two witches. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I</em>
  <em> hope you do not mind such a large crowd in attendance, as this year's students of Luna Nova have been invited to only the vows of marriage, whereas you, have been invited to the events after. Should you receive this invitation, I hope you understand that you must only be allowed to bring oneself, or your own family along with this invitation, as to keep things a lot less “rowdy.” We hope to be seeing you soon, and do follow the instructions that should be located on the back of this invitation, should you not know how to make your way.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Signed, the soon to be wed: </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Atsuko Kagari, and Diana Cavendish</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. First Day! The Forbidden Forest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's the fated first day of school! Hopefully, it should turn out perfect... right?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be-”</em>
</p><p>A loud hand slapped the top of the strangely stylized alarm clock, that looked like a pumpkin blowing the top off. The alarm finally ceased, having sleign the alarm clock, they then went right back under the covers, as if it had never happened. After a few minutes of laying there, the bundle of blankets then exploded outward, as the brunette underneath it realized the mistake she almost made.</p><p>“Oh crap, I totally forgot! I don’t wanna be laaaate!” They screamed as they quickly got to their feet, and scrambled around the room looking for a few things they had forgotten to pack along with their already full suitcase. After a few more minutes, they opened the door of their room, and ran down the hall to the bathroom, and quickly stripped so they could shower and freshen up.</p><p>“Don’t stay in there too long, you don’t want to miss your ride!” An older woman’s voice shouted at her through the door.</p><p>“Don’t worry mom, I won't, hopefully!” the brunette shouted back, doing the best she could to make sure she didn’t miss anything important to bring along with her- forgetting something as simple as a toothbrush could be a problem later. After only a few minutes in the shower, she quickly shot out, and gathered some things for her toiletries. Lest she forget anything, that meant she’d have to dip into some savings that they’d rather save for other things. After gathering everything, and quickly drying off, they shot out of the bathroom, and careened down the hall back to her room, to shove everything else she could inside her own bag, and pulled up the handle for the accompanying suitcase.</p><p>This was the fated day, finally being able to get one step closer to her dream; following the footsteps of the legendary witch, who brought laughs and smiles the world over. It was Atsuko Kagari’s first step into becoming a witch that would become the next household name, alongside that of her idol; Shiny Chariot. Although ambitious, she had no doubt in her mind, and nothing but sheer determination was brimming from her smile and stature. That was, until she tripped over her own feet and fell flat on her face as she tried to rush out the door.</p><p>“My, you really need to rest yourself, Atsuko! I know you’re excited, but don’t be too excited that you trip every step!” Her mom told her, as she helped her up.</p><p>“I-I know, but I’m just too excited!” She beamed back at her, getting her mom to smile back.</p><p>“Now then, make us proud, Atsuko, and come back as soon as you can! Your father would love to see how much you’ve grown when he comes back!” She told her, patting her on the head and kissing their cheek. The two then hugged for a few moments, before Atsuko had turned around again, holding on tight to her belongings.</p><p>“I’ll be back as soon as possible, with tons of new party tricks too! I love youuu!” She called as she quickly darted out of the home, waving all the while. Their mom waved back, and after she watched her run down the streets far enough to not be able to see her again, she slowly closed the door.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“You can do this, Atsuko! You can become a splendid witch, just like Chariot!” She told herself as she ran towards what she thought was the right direction. She looked at the map she had a few times before, but now that she realized that there wasn’t a bus stop in sight, she truly was confused on where to go. Skidding to a stop, she checked the map again. There weren't any bus stops nearby, this wasn’t a super big town after all, most of the travel out of the town was made by train, but the occasional bus did stop by from time to time. After a few moments, and a couple of askings around, she figured out that her bus stop was instead an old, stone building that perched itself on top of a hill. Her destination discovered, she began her sprint again. After making her way officially out of town, she began to come up to the stone tower, until she quickly got out her map again to really make sure this was the right place. After slowing down a bit to make sure she didn’t shake herself up too much, she accidentally ran into someone in front of her.</p><p>“Uwaaah!!!” She screamed as she fell backwards, landing on her haunches and still unsure exactly what happened. In front of her was a still standing girl that had lavender, greyish hair, and pasty skin along with it. Atsuko quickly realized what happened now, and got up to help gather the things the girl she ran into had dropped. “S-Sorry, sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going!” They said as they gathered their various belongings from the floor, and eventually, realized that the girl she ran into, had dropped a pamphlet, not unlike the one she had used as a map to their soon-to-be magic school.</p><p>“Oh, are you going to Luna Nova too? I was a little apprehensive at first with going on my own, but at least I have someone else going with me!” She quickly said, thinking on her own track of mind. “My name is Atsuko, Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko!” They beamed. “I’m going to become a witch, just like Shiny Chariot! You know her, right? She’s famous after all, she made so many people laugh and smile with her magic, she went to Luna Nova too, so that’s why I’m going!” She continued her spiel, until she stopped as the girl in front of her had decided to turn away, and grab out a small vial of a purplish liquid, and poured the contents out onto a plush bird that laid motionless on the ground. After not even a moment, it had risen, and yawned.</p><p>“Woah, puppet magic! I’ve been trying to do it myself, but I can’t ever get it right!” She squealed as she then got down on her haunches to look at the moving plush. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen it done in person! Hey, come here, don’t be scared!” She said to the plush, holding her arms out and leaning more in. “Hey, come-” The plush then decided to poke it’s beak right in Akko’s eye, which caused her to yell in pain after a moment of silence.</p><p>“My eye, my eye!!!” They bellowed, and subsequently curled up on the ground in pain, as the plush continued to poke at her rear while she tried to cover her eye. “T-That’s not very nice of you, Mr. Bird!”</p><p>She then realized that the lavender haired girl was walking away, holding onto her stuff once again, but leaving behind the plush, and the vial she used to bring it life. “H-Hold on, wait up!” she called to her, quickly picking up her own bags and suitcase as she dashed after the girl, having no other place to put the plush other than on top of her head.</p><p>“Hey, how did you do that just now? Was it hard? I’ve been trying to learn stuff like that, but I don’t even have the basics covered… So that’s why I decided to go to school! I figured if I did, I’d learn magic like Shiny Chariot, and then I can do cool things like that too… Huh?” She realized as she was talking they made their way to a bridge, and the girl in front of her stopped, turned around, and offered her hand to Akko. “O-Oh! It’s very nice to meet you!” She smiled, and began to giggle. She kept shaking, until she realized that something was on her arms. She looked, and realized that two snakes had appeared, and were preparing to strike at her. “W-Waaaaah!” She screamed, and then stepped back, unfortunately right to the edge of the bridge they were walking over, and fell right into the water below. She got out quickly with a groan, the plush and her now soaked in water. She then looked at her hands in confusion, to realize that the snakes were just small coils of rope.</p><p>“Who does she think she is, anyways…” Akko had told herself, walking up the old stairs left on the hill, towards the stone tower that served as a “bus stop” to Luna Nova. She then spotted a few people out front, dressed in Luna Nova’s own uniforms. “A-Ah, those are Luna Nova uniforms!” she exclaimed, and began excitedly climbing the hill faster. The further she climbed, the more the girl’s voices began to make their way to Akko’s ears.</p><p>“By the way, I heard one of the newcomers is not from a witch family.” One of them spoke, causing Akko to halt entirely. “No way!” The other two girls responded. “They’ve let in too many commoners lately…” They followed up, rolling their eyes to their friends. “I’ve heard they haven’t been doing well financially, so they’ve been letting more commoners in.” Another continued, resulting in the other two to agree in protest. “That’s awful.” One said, “Luna Nova’s dignity is in jeopardy.” Said the other. “I bet she won’t even be able to ride a broom.” One of them spoke in a pompous and joking tone. “I don’t think they’ve had a student in history who hasn’t been able to ride a broom!” One of them spoke up, laughing right after having said it. Two of them laughed, but one realized that someone else was there.</p><p>“Who are you?” They said matter-of-fact, instantly catching Akko’s attention as she attempted to turn away from them back down the mountain.</p><p>“A-Atsuko Kagari…” Akko said, in a low and somewhat defeated tone.</p><p>“Ah, so you’re the new one…” The girl that called Akko’s name responded, looking at her quizzically.</p><p>“I-I hope the bus comes soon.” Akko said, walking up to them now nervously.</p><p>“Bus? What are you talking about?” One of the girls said, looking at her with that same expression.”</p><p>“What? I thought the bus stop was here..?” Akko responded, now much more confused than nervous.</p><p>The girls then started to laugh again, realizing that this girl had no idea what was going on at all. “Are you serious?” One had said between chuckles. “Did you really think a bus takes us there?” Said another. They then all got out their brooms in unison, and pointed them at Akko. “Tia Freyre!” They all said to her, resulting in the ends of their brooms to puff outward with green magical energy, directly in Akko’s face, causing her to cough a bit.</p><p>“This is the broom stop-” one had started, “The Leyline Terminal.” finished another. They then all mounted their brooms, and continued. “Leyline connects us to Luna Nova-” One started, only for them to fly into the stone tower structure. “There is magic energy running along the Leyline, always since ancient times-” continued another, following the first’s lead into the structure. “And when you ride that energy, you can fly directly to Luna Nova!” The last one finished, then following along with the other two. Akko only looked at them in disbelief as to what was happening.</p><p>“This is the magic highway! You’d know about it if you studied basic knowledge!” The three witches said in unison, as they then began their ascent into the upper area of the structure. Akko chased after them shortly after she realized they were going somewhere, and looked up.</p><p>What stood above them all was a large portal, situated in the tower itself, and twisted and turned upwards, as if there was no roof at all. The three witches continued to float up, talking as if Akko had completely vanished by that point. “We mustn’t waste any more time, you know! If we’re late, we’d be kicked out of the magic world forever!” They then all were sucked into the portal, and Akko watched as they all began traveling through it, to whatever other side there was beyond it. Then, came a blinding light, and the witches were out of sight, and the portal remained.</p><p>Akko only stared into the portal, and started to feel more and more dejected. “What can I do..?” She asked herself.</p><p>She decided the only thing she could do was try to scale the interior of the building, and climb into the portal, she had no broom nor ability to fly just yet, so she had to make do. The interior was filled with various bushes, and long vines that scaled upward and somewhat felt like they went into the portal itself. She climbed up a fair bit, grabbing the closest branches she could each time, only for them to break under her weight, causing her to fall flat on her back. She sat there for a moment, and quickly realized that maybe, her dream wouldn’t be possible after all. She knew that she would try her best, but today hadn’t been going all that well, making her future uncertain at this point. She didn’t exactly know why, but she felt a stinging sensation behind her eyes, and she finally realized that she began to cry. Trying to get herself up a bit, the only thing she could really do was sit there, and let her emotions overtake her. She knows it’s childish, but what else could she do?</p><p>She sat there for a few minutes, trying her best to calm herself down, holding back hiccups as she tried to weigh her options in her mind. Could she try and climb again? It could work, but what would happen once she got into the portal, she had no broom to travel the Leyline after all. The more she realized how hopeless she was, the more the tears began to flow, feeling more and more dejected, and upset by the minute. After a few more minutes of time, she heard loud clunks and shifts of weight climbing up the hill. She quickly shot up, and wiped away the tears in her eyes as well as she could, but couldn’t help but let a few more leak through the gaps.</p><p>She watched, as an orange haired girl in a Luna Nova uniform, and rounded spectacles slowly climbed their way up the hill. “I’m going to be late…” They said. With way too many things at her side, more than Akko had on her, she watched as they accidentally tripped on their own weight, and their things subsequently crashed to the ground. “Mother and Yanne packed too many gifts!” She shouted to herself. Akko then quickly got up, and picked up the discarded hat on the ground that fell along with this girl’s belongings, as well as their broom. The orange haired girl looked up at her for a moment, and got to her feet, accepting the fallen items that Akko had been holding out for her. She quickly gathered the rest of her things, and rushed into the stone structure.</p><p>“Tia…” She quickly jolted as she realized that the brunette girl that had picked up her things looked at her, with a sad expression. “H-Hey, are you coming? Orientation is starting soon…” Was all they said, and then realized that the brunette’s expression was only getting more upset and sad, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “Are you new..?” They asked, and the brunette only nodded in response. “Luna Nova has strict rules, you know… You’re not allowed in if you’re late to orientation, you get expelled right away…” She continued on. The brunette then walked forward more, and spoke back. “I don’t have a broom… Even if I did, I don’t know how to ride one...” They told her, looking much more down somehow. “I-I’m sorry… I don’t want to be late…”</p><p>The orange haired girl spoke to her, and turned away. She then realized she heard the brunette start to sob, and turned back to look at her head in her hands, a few tears slipping through the gaps between her fingers. It took a moment for them to think of what to do, so they only did what they thought would be right. “Want a ride?” They asked the brunette, looking at her with worry. They looked up at her, looking a bit better than before, and starring eagerly. The orange haired girl then continued, “I’ve never had a passenger before, but I may be able to do it if I try…” They continued to offer. She then watched as the brunette quickly perked up, and wiped away at her eyes. They then quickly made her way over to her, and threw her arms right around her in a tight hug.</p><p>“T-Thank you so much! Kind witches really do exist!” She said to her, quickly, leaving the orange haired girl confused as to what’s happening. “My name is Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko!” she followed up, looking at her with happy eyes. The orange haired girl could almost feel her happiness seep into them, as she smiled back. “M-My name is Lotte, Lotte Yanson.” She responded to her, looking and feeling more happy. “We’d best hurry, we don’t have a lot of time.” She continued, looking at Akko with determination. “Okay!” Akko responded, holding onto Lotte tight as they both readied themselves onto the broom. Lotte then casted some form of spell, which caused the broom underneath the two to feel even more stiff, being able to carry more weight perhaps than just one person and their luggage. Akko then put her things around the broom, feeling now that it wouldn’t give, she gave Lotte a thumbs up, which she nodded at, and looked ahead with determination. “Are you ready to go? I’m taking off now.” Lotte said, turning her head back to Akko. She nodded to her, and Lotte once again looked ahead.</p><p>“Fly, my broom, and take us to the Leyline… Tia Freyre!” She said aloud, which followed in a gust of magical power to shoot out of the back of the broom, along with similar green sparkles. The two then began to quickly rise into the air, going up the structure at a fast speed. “W-Woah, we’re flying, we’re really flying!” Akko called out, looking down below the ground with a few gasps at the height. She then shouted as the broom quickly went down, but slowly started to rise back up again, leaving Akko with a terrified expression. “S-Sorry, it’s still adjusting more to the weight!” Lotte called out to Akko, which made them snap back to reality, the flashes of her life going away. “The path to Luna Nova is opening, you’d better hang on tight!” Lotte shouted, making Akko look up into the portal above, watching it shimmer with a bright light. She then looked down and realized that the structure below began to quickly go farther and farther away, until she realized she was being stretched as the portal began to suck them in with greater and greater force. “W-What’s happening!!” Was all she could shout, until she finally was sucked into the blindingly fast speeds of the Leyline.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>She could feel tears once again seep out of her eyes as she looked terrified into the strange and branch-like walls of the Leyline, glowing with magical energy as they passed by. “J-Just let me off, I can’t do this!!” Akko shouted in fear. “J-Just calm down, it won’t be long!” Lotte shouted back, which was followed up by a large gust of wind that hit the two, causing the plush bird to fly out of one of the bags Akko had with them. “Our luggage!” Lotte shouted, watching as a few more things flew out backwards. They then realized that someone was behind them, and watched as all the things hit them square in the face as they were reading a book to themselves, causing them to fall backwards a bit. “T-This is weird, what’s happening?” Lotte shouted to themselves, and then turned to Akko. “Y-You don’t happen to have any salt, do you?” She asked Akko, which snapped Akko back into focus. “Leyline doesn’t like salt!” Lotte continued. Akko thought for a moment, and pulled out a sealed jar. “What is that?” Lotte asked her. “Pickled plums!” Akko quickly responded, causing Lotte to gasp a bit. “T-Throw that out!” She told Akko, looking a bit worried. “B-But I can’t live without them!” She said in response, causing Lotte to quickly shout back “Please!” Akko then conceded, about to throw the jar, she realized something slipped out of her pocket, her treasured Chariot Card she brought with her for good luck.</p><p>“A-Ah! My treasure!!” She shouted as she held out her hand towards the card that kept flying<br/>away. “B-Be careful, Akko!” Lotte quickly responded, until one last large gust of wind hit the two, knocking Akko clean off the broom, along with her things. She, however, landed squarely into the witch they knocked in the face with the plush earlier, the same lavender witch from before, knocking them both off balance, Lotte, however, was unable to handle the wind the Leyline was hitting them with either, causing the three Witches to careen out into the Leyline more, and sending them out of it.</p><p>Having finally woken up from being knocked around in the Leyline, Akko slowly began to try and get herself up, realizing she was dangling around something. That was, until what turned out to be branches, cracked underneath her, causing her to land hard on the grass of wherever they were, in a daze. She then felt something soft land on her chest, causing her to open her eyes. Her treasured Chariot Card had landed directly on top of her.</p><p>“Oh, my god! My treasure is safe and sound, no bends at all!” She said aloud, holding it closely. That was, until she realized that she had also landed directly on top of that same lavender haired witch as well, which caused her to quickly recoil upwards, and away from the motionless girl underneath her. “I-Is she dead?” She asked herself in shock. She then turned away, and began to shake as she whimpered in place, unsure of what happened. That was, until she could hear someone start to rise up from the ground.</p><p>“You are truly a pain in the neck.” An unfamiliar voice said, sending shocks of fear throughout Akko’s body once again. Then, she realized that the lavender witch had spoken that to her. “Y-You’re alive!” She said aloud, looking at her now. “A witch doesn’t die so easily, you know.” They responded with a monotone voice, looking nothing but tired, with bags very visible under their red eyes. Akko then heard the gasp of another girl, and quickly went to peek over some various plantlife to see Lotte on the ground, holding her broom. Akko quickly darted over, and kneeled down beside the girl. “Lotte! Are you okay, are you hurt?” She asked. “I-I’m okay, but my broom isn’t…” She said, motioning Akko to look at the now broken broom in her hands.</p><p>“Looks like we arrived at our destination.” The lavender haired girl said, giving attention to the other two girls.</p><p>“W-What, this is Luna Nova? But where’s orientation?” Akko said, now looking around the foggy forest that held nothing but some dead and few alive, spindly trees, as well as many forms of fauna the likes she hasn’t ever seen before.</p><p>“It isn’t here, This is some forest I don’t know.” Lotte said, now holding both halves of her broken broom, looking around as well. Both of their attentions then turned right back to the lavender haired girl, as she spoke up.</p><p>“The Forest of Arcturus.” She spoke out loud in between the girls.</p><p>“Arcturus…” Lotte started, looking confused, until she quickly gasped at the name. “T-The forbidden forest?” she continued, looking much more afraid.</p><p>“What is it?” Akko then asked, looking only confused. The three then began to trek their way through the forest, Akko most of all taking in their surroundings as they followed Lotte round, along with the lavender haired girl at the back. Lotte held up the front end of her broken broom, allowing the strange skull ornament to light their way through the dense fog.</p><p>“It’s an ancient, legendary forest. A holy place protected by magic trees.” Lotte started to explain, looking around ahead of them to see where they should go next. “They say that once you get lost, even a witch has a hard time getting out.” Lotte finished.</p><p>“T-That’s not good, we won't make it to orientation!” Akko quickly shouted in response, which was then quickly followed up by the girl behind them.</p><p>“Well, we might not ever get out.” The lavender girl had said, the deadpan tone staying in their voice, showing no real hint of emotion at all.</p><p>“H-Hey, don’t scare me like that!” Akko quickly shouted back, turning back to look at them. She then realized that she saw a fair amount of things on the ground in a clearing through the thickness of the woods.</p><p>“Hey, some more of my stuff!” She shouted. She picked up the things that were on the ground, realizing that the plush bird, along with various other things was there, and finally found her second bag she brought with her. She picked it up, and then turned back to the group, entirely ignoring the giant purple plant that was right in front of her. The plant then began to open it’s front, revealing a giant, gaping mouth that quickly attempted to take a bite out of the brunette.</p><p>“L-Look out!” Lotte called, and Akko quickly turned around to watch as the plant advanced on her, lunging forward but just barely missing as Akko fell backwards in fright. The three girls then began to go into a full sprint as they ran away from the plant, which shot it’s own roots at the girls, in an attempt to catch them. They darted through the thickness of the woods, unsure on where to go next, they only went straight.</p><p>“W-What was that thing?!” Akko called out in fear as she continued to run.</p><p>“That’s a Mandrake, a human-eating plant. The lavender haired girl spoke, now ahead of Akko. They continued to run, until they saw a much more bright light ahead of them. “This way.” The lavender haired girl spoke again, which followed up by her taking the lead, Lotte and Akko following close behind, still avoiding the Mandrake’s tentacle like roots and vines. They finally settled into a clearing, avoiding the Mandrake’s detection. But Akko wasn’t so lucky, and managed to trip right into the clearing, falling down the grass into a roll, and slamming against a tree, completely upside down.</p><p>“Perfect.” The lavender girl whispered to herself, inspecting a large footprint in the ground. She then turned to look at the two girls, Lotte having kneeled down to help Akko up as she rubbed her head in pain. “Hey.” She continued, gathering the two other girl’s attention towards her. “Come over here. She beckoned, waving her hand to signal the two to come closer, in front of her being a large and coiling mass of rope.</p><p>“What is it?” Akko said, walking over to the girl, Lotte following right behind her.</p><p>“Stand over there.” The lavender girl said, grabbing out another bottle of a familiar purple liquid. She then quickly uncorked the bottle, and poured its contents onto the rope. “Juras Haras Haras.” She followed up, a magical incantation causing the rope beneath them to shift. It began to emit purple smoke, and caused the rope to wind around strangely, until it entirely surrounded the girls in a ball-like pattern, forming what could’ve been mistaken as a giant wicker ball. “What’s this?” Akko asked the lavender girl. “Cast the spell.” Is all they responded with.</p><p>“The spell?” Akko asked, followed up by Lotte, asking the lavender girl, “Would it allow us to find the path?” The lavender girl only continued as if she was being asked nothing at all, speaking a strange set of words to them. “Kutchur Katela Flala.” Akko only looked confused, and attempted to recite it. “Kutchur Katela… hura hura?” She said, still looking vastly unsure as to what it was going to do. The lavender girl then showed her first hints of emotion, and looked at Akko with an angered expression, leaning in more. “Kutchur Katela Flala, speak from your gut!” She told her, with slight anger also in her tone. Akko, now looking annoyed herself, she then shouted out the words the lavender girl asked her too.</p><p>“Kutchur Katela Flala!” She shouted, it now echoing throughout the forest, reverberating off of the trees. Only, what followed after, was the loud screech of a strange beast, sounding that of a deep voiced chicken, elongated and slightly gurgly, like it’s mouth was full of phlegm. Akko and Lotte then began to look around, trying to track where the cry came from, until they all began to hear loud, booming footsteps start to make their way towards them. The two now looking shocked, they tried to scan the area, looking for where it was coming from. “W-What’s that?!” Akko called out, looking around more and more, looking much more afraid.</p><p>They then turned their back, to find a large chicken head popping out of rustling trees. It then began to arch its elongated neck downard, and directly hovering over the rope ball they were trapped in. breathing onto them with a rancid smelling scent, and it’s beady eyes trained directly onto them both. All Akko could do was give it a nervous smile, and say “Hello…” to it, until she turned to her compatriots, and saw Lotte’s scared expression, along with the lavender girl’s still blank stare. “W-What’s this? What was that spell for…?” Akko asked the lavender girl, still not able to turn away from the large creature entirely, opting to instead lean over her shoulder.</p><p>“The spell said, “Hey stupid! If you don’t like it, eat me!” The lavender girl responded, looking no different to them after having explained that she tricked them into insulting a giant beast. The lavender girl then hopped right onto her still whole broom, and began to levitate upwards. “This is a Cockatrice, a legendary bird that only exists in the Forest of Arcturus. It is said that their feathers contain a lethal poison. It’s a rare item for lethal poison collectors.” She explained, now many feet above them, leaving the two girls with afraid yet unsure expressions as the lavender girl continued. “You have to draw its attention, and I’ll remove some feathers.” Akko then felt immediate anger, and called out to the girl. “What?! We’re decoys?!” she shouted up to them, her hands in fists, the sudden shout startling Lotte beside her. The lavender girl only began to talk more. “No, you’re sacrifices. Cast the spell one more time.” she continued, flying behind the large head of the Cockatrice, out of sight entirely. “W-Who would do that?!” Akko shouted back, until she realized that the Cockatrice began to arch itself upward, looking much more down upon the girls now. It then cocked it’s head back, and began to attempt to slam it’s head down onto them.</p><p>Akko, thinking quickly, grabbed onto one side of the rope ball, and leaned it forward fast enough for it to begin rolling down the forest, out of the Cockatrice’s attempted attack and through the following explosion of dust and dirt that came from the strength behind it’s strike. The two girls began to run, allowing the ball to continue to roll as they made their way as best they could through the forest.</p><p>The lavender girl then began to taunt them slightly. “Be careful, if it breathes on you, you’ll turn to stone.” She said, with a hint of enjoyment behind her words.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The two girls continued to use their hands and feet to keep the ball rolling, causing it to stay at a consistent speed. “To stone, are you kidding me?!” Akko shouted back, entirely dumbfounded at that comment. The Cockatrice, now having stood itself up again, attempted to shoot it’s breath at the girls, only barely missing them, turning the surrounding fauna into statue-like counterparts in their place, now entirely carved from stone. The lavender girl followed behind the Cockatrice as it began running towards the girls in the ball, gaining on them much faster than they could roll, attempting to bite at them again and again.</p><p>While it was distracted, the Lavender girl got down low with her broom, and attempted to grab at the feathers of the Cockatrice. After a few failed attempts, she finally grasped a feather in her hands, and pulled back, pulling out a complete and large feather from it. “Kehehe… Got it.” She cackled to herself, proud of the victory. It was then, she realized that because of it, the Cockatrice had taken its attention to the lavender girl, after having roared sharply from the twang of pain on it’s backside. Having realized their mistake, the lavender girl quickly darted away from the Cockatrice’s counterattack- their buff of breath just barely missing the girl, shooting out into the air in a very thick smog.</p><p>The two girls continued to roll out of control, unable to stop the ball from continuing down the large incline they were on. “I-I can’t stop!!” Akko shouted out, trying to keep pace. They both, however, were unable to run out of the way of a giant tree that was in front of them, causing them to land directly into it, breaking the ball and taking its momentum with them, as they began to tumble much further down into the forest itself. Sliding across the grass, Lotte nearly fell off what was supposedly a cliff in the landscape, only having been saved by Akko, quickly grabbing onto a large tree just barely on the edge with her legs, and another hand on one of it’s large and stiff roots. “Are you okay?” Akko asked Lotte as she held her tight, which got an “I’m okay...” in response from the orange haired girl. Akko pulled her up as fast as she could, and rested her with them on the tree she was attached to.</p><p>“We have to go. Quickly.” She told Lotte, having rested them completely against the tree. “We don’t have time to waste, we won’t make it to the orientation!” She said, looking upwards at the steep landscape they fell down moments prior.</p><p>“Ow!” Lotte shouted, taking Akko’s attention back to them, realizing that she was clutching her skirt, lifting it up to reveal a nasty scrape on her leg. “My knee!” Lotte continued as they stared at the wound. “I can’t walk… I won’t make it…” She continued, looking more and more dejected with her eyes barely open now.</p><p>“We can make it!” Akko quickly shouted back, gathering Lotte’s complete attention. Akko then picked Lotte up, wrapping one of her arms around her shoulder, and propping her up effectively. “I will never give up.” She continued, looking at Lotte with a much more determined expression. She began to help Lotte walk with her up the steep forest landscape, over various roots and raised land, Lotte’s limping only slowing Akko down just a bit. “W-We have to go!” Akko continued. “We are… going to be witches!” She exclaimed loudly, still looking only ahead as she continued to climb with Lotte at her side.</p><p>“Reach out, and it’ll begin.” Akko began to speak. “My heart-pounding… and thrilling story! It will begin!” She finished, taking them both now to more level ground. They then both looked ahead in awe at what was before them. Small, yet curvy roots, filled with the most vibrant life they’ve seen, surrounding a strange, and very ornate staff, flowers now blooming around it as it gave off a strange energy. It’s design was strange to Lotte, but all too familiar for Atsuko. 7, large and jade green baubles were etched into its form, to form the shape of the Big Dipper. It began to glow much more as the two witches began to advance upon it, emanating it’s own magical light.</p><p>“T-This is… This must be Chariot’s magic wand!” Akko had exclaimed, unable to fully comprehend what she was seeing. Lotte at her side, continued to stare into it as well, unable to take their eyes off of it.</p><p>However, both of their thoughts were cut short, as they heard the screech of the Cockatrice once more. Through the thick wooden ceiling of the forest, they were able to see the lavender haired girl, still trying her best to avoid the Cockatrice’s stone breath, and it’s quick jabs with its beak, surrounding the landscape with stone and smog alike. Akko, then turned back to the wand in front of the two, with a continuously determined gaze. After a moment, she turned to Lotte.</p><p>“Lotte, go hide somewhere and stay put.” She told her.</p><p>“W-What?!” She said in response, completely confused. She then watched, as Akko grabbed hold of the wand in front of them, and pulled it away from the roots surrounding it entirely, and gripping it determinedly in her hands, staring deeply once again into it.</p><p>“Kutchur Katela Flala!” Akko had shouted once again to gather the Cockatrice’s attention, which worked almost immediately as it turned itself to Akko. “Hoy! Come here, you demon!” She continued to shout at it, causing the Cockatrice to look in confusion, which quickly followed by it looking to her with anger. “Follow me why don’t you?!” She taunted, and now began to run away from it. The lavender girl watched from behind as the Cockatrice began it’s chase for the lone girl, with much more speed and ferocity.</p><p>Only being on foot, Akko had no real chance at outrunning the great beast, but she still continued on as she heard it’s steps get louder and louder. Ducking herself over various fallen trees and tumbling through various shifts of the land, she continued to a dead end, a cliff edge over deeper woods. Having realized she’s been cornered, the Cockatrice attempted to lunge it’s head at them once more, only for Akko to duck right under the beast, and continuing in the opposite direction as she stumbled to her feet. Having only been able to go so far before she rested herself on the ground, the Cockatrice turned it’s head over to her, as well as revealing the strange backside that it sported, a large venomous snake head coming out from behind it, gazed at Akko with it’s equally as beady eyes and slit pupils. It was only then that the Cockatrice realized that it wasn’t able to move, and it found itself ensnared in a Mandrake. Unable to flee, the Cockatrice attempted to fight the plant beast, and Akko took this chance to run away from the two. Having only gone a few feet away, she heard the voice of a familiar, lavender haired witch above her.</p><p>“Hey.” She said, causing Akko to look up at her, now having Lotte right behind her, and her strange skull-like lantern ornament as well with her. “Hop on.” they continued as they lowered themselves down to pick Akko up.</p><p>The three then flew up into the air of the forest, watching slightly as the battle between the two mythical beasts continued on, avoiding stray blasts of the Cockatrice’s stone breath as they floated above the trees. Lotte had now taken the helms of the broom as she attempted to navigate the forest towards their destination.</p><p>“Thank you, uh…” Akko began, until she realized she never knew the lavender haired girl’s name. “It’s Sucy. Sucy Manbavaran.” She told her, turning her head to look at Akko now with that same, blank expression. “Thank you, Sucy.” Akko had finished, now looking much more happy.</p><p>Then, a large explosion bellowed throughout the forest behind them, causing the three to all look back at what just happened, until they watched the Cockatrice fly out of the large smoke cloud, now making an attempt to follow the witches once again.</p><p>“That thing is so persistent!” Akko shouted as she continued to look at the beast. “W-We can’t get away with three people on this thing!” Lotte shouted back, still looking only ahead to make sure she didn’t end up making the three fall. The Cockatrice quickly gaining speed, the girls were entirely out of options.</p><p>That was, until Akko caught the glimpse of another witch on a broom, one that looked much older than any of them, and had a strangely designed hourglass like witch’s garb on, blue in color, but layered over a faded red. The Cockatrice then attempted to shoot a burst of flame at the girls, which they narrowly avoided.</p><p>“I-It’s blowing fire!!” Akko screamed, now having entirely forgot about the other witch she saw. Continuing to avoid the flames, they weren’t lucky enough to stop the broom from catching itself on fire as a result. “T-The broom’s on fire!” Akko called out again, raising her hand with the magic wand up as she attempted to blow out the fire with her own breath, and failing horribly. Unable to continue to evade, the Cockatrice made one last attack, and breathed a spire of fire directly into the witches, only for it to hit the back of the broom, causing it to all burst, and the girls to begin plummeting into the forest. Akko could only scream and shut her eyes as she felt the air around her explode with each passing second, making her fall even more.</p><p>“Say the words!” Was all she could hear next. “Cast the spell!” following it. Akko opened her eyes as she looked at the witch on the broom she saw before, gaining much faster speed, being able to catch Lotte, who was clutching her lantern. With the words the witch had spoken, the magic wand in her hands began to glow. “T-The Shiny Rod…” Akko spoke softly, watching it glow again with it’s magical splendor.</p><p>“Noctu, Orfei…” The witch continued, having now caught Sucy as well, and attempting to gain enough speed to catch Akko, despite now having two passengers on her broom.</p><p>“Noctu, Orfei…” Akko began, now holding the wand close to her chest, closing her eyes once again.</p><p>“Aude…” They said now, gaining slowly more and more speed towards Akko.</p><p>“Aude…” Akko parroted, now able to see nothing but her goal, she trained her mind evermore, being able to almost feel the magic flowing through her. Lastly, the witch spoke only one more word, but however, Akko was able to decipher it along with her.</p><p>“Fraetor!” They shouted in unison, causing the Shiny Rod in her arms to glow with a bright orange light at one of the baubles etched in it’s tip, shooting out a wave of magical power, surging and carrening around Akko and slightly into the landscape as well. Akko held the Shiny Rod in front of her as she fell, and began to speak once more…</p><p>
  <em> <strong>”Shiny… Arc!!!”</strong> </em>
</p><p>The rod took the form of an ornate bow, one she’d seen many times before, one that which Chariot used in her magic shows. She had no hesitation in mimicking what she always saw, pulling back the string with which a magical arrow filled the gaps. Much more nearing the roof of the forest, she aimed the bow directly at the Cockatrice, still attempting to attack the group. No more thoughts clouding her mind, she was set on what to do now.</p><p>“Take… this!!!” she shouted as she then shot at the Cockatrice, and watched as the bright green arrow glowed in the air, and morphed itself into large, flowing tassels. It latched itself entirely around the beast, causing it to immediately falter, and subsequently begin to fall into the forest, out of sight. Akko felt the power behind the bow take its toll, but continued to aim once again at the forest below. She fired again, having shot directly into the thickness of the forest, and a portal, no different than that of the Leyline, formed in front of her now. Safe from the deadly fall, she watched as the bow contorted back into its usual form, and began to feel an extreme fatigue over her body. Having finally been catched by the witch that spoke to her those words, she was placed between the mysterious witch and Lotte behind her, being held close by them both, as they traveled through the portal. Akko watched as various visions filled her sight, people, places, things she couldn’t quite understand. She was entranced by the magic she saw, and watched as at the very end, a circular symbol with 3 sharp points showed up, and they traveled through it.</p><p>Akko could feel herself begin to move again, as they found themselves back outside, into a much brighter part of the land, flying into the air on the back of this stranger’s broom. The three gasped as the portal behind them dissipated, and watched the landscape fully unfold itself in front of them.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The large school that was Luna Nova stood in front of them, surrounded by large flats of land, various mountains at it’s sides that almost looked as though the school dug into them, various large lakes of water, waterfalls even as well coming out from above one of the mountains and almost looking as if it went into the school. Lastly, a large tower somewhere off on the side in the middle of a modestly sized forest, with a visible green glow coming out from its slightly stained windows, clearly from a much older time. Birds flew about along with the high rising clouds that cast shadows over the place as the sun peeked through, highlighting the elegantly designed stone along with multiple flags that represented what could be the school’s class structuring system that hung over various points in the large castle that would be their school. Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink, Green, Purple, Turquoise, Blue, and various, smaller banners of Black off on a smaller part of the building opposing that of the large tower, with multitudes of towers. Along with each banner, the school’s crest stood proudly in the center, and a depiction of a witch, 9 different ones in total. Akko could only gaze more and more into the large school, until she felt herself begin to slowly descend towards the ground, the witch holding onto her still was taking them to the front of the school directly.</p><p>“E-Excuse me… Thank you for rescuing us... “ Akko sheepishly said, which caught the older witch at the helm off guard.</p><p>“It’s alright, miss Kagari. I’m lucky I was able to get there on time, and orientation still doesn’t start for another 10 minutes!” She said, feeling quite happy with herself as well.</p><p>“W-We still have 10 Minutes until orientation..?” Lotte said from behind Akko, clearly confused. “That’s past schedule…”</p><p>“We had to postpone the orientation for a few, a few creatures got out from the greenhouse that had to be wrangled, and I also put in the word that a few students were lost, and I had to get them.” She explained, now looking back with a smile on her face.</p><p>“Wait…” Akko began, looking up at the witch. “How did you know my name…?” She asked her, confused.</p><p>“I know all of your names, you were sent under my team, after all. If my memory serves me right… You three are, miss Atsuko Kagari, miss Lotte Yanson, and… miss Sucy Maa...dhava?” She said, becoming more confused at the end.</p><p>“Manbaveran, but close.” Sucy said to her, which caused the older witch to groan a bit.</p><p>“Sorry, I have a few students with confusing last names, it’s hard to remember…” She said, sounding regretful.</p><p>They eventually slowed a wall of Luna Nova, nearby the Red banner that stood on one part of the massive school, She landed them all on a terrace that went out of the side of the building, which followed by her using her wand to open the doors in front of them, which looked to connect into the building.</p><p>“Orientation was put on hold for a moment, so we were instructed to take our students to their dorms to unpack. This is one of the many terraces connected to a part of the school that those of their house can use to quickly fly out, and go to another part of the school. We keep it to lower foot traffic, but not a lot of witches use it anyways. She explained as she helped the three off the broom, which she then picked up for herself to hold. “Just go through those doors with me, and I’ll take you to your room!” She beamed at the girls.</p><p>Akko finally got a good look at her, and was able to feel warmth in her expression. The witch in front of them had deep, blue hair, that went down only one side in a curl, as well as ovalish spectacles over her eyes, which were a deep red in stark contrast to her all blue attire. Her outfit, however, had accents of red at the bottom, and a ribbon of pure Black along her hips, holding her wand in a sash, and a black ribbon stripe on her hat, which had a pin of the school crest as well.</p><p>“Oh!” Lotte began, and looked up to the older witch. “You’re the new teacher that’s part of the Red team, Professor Ursula, correct?”</p><p>“Why yes, that’s absolutely correct!” Ursula said, smiling at Lotte now. “I’m going to be looking over you girls along with our other Red team leader, Professor Finnelan.” She continued, now coaxing the girls to follow along with her, as she led them through the door, and into the school propper.</p><p>Akko was entranced by the interior of the magical structure, mouth agape as she walked past the tall ceilings, adorned with chandeliers, and various lamps still lit by fire. Openings high up on the walls, with which the faeries flew through to get to who knows where, stained glass overhead casting through various colors of tinted sunlight. The floor was carpetless, a polished granite interjected with what could’ve been marble, or perhaps just smoothed stone. Each tile felt shined to perfection, and easily cast underneath them a mirror image of themselves. The more Akko had walked, the more magical the building felt as she looked outside as they passed the many windows, showcasing the magical landscapes, large, open plains, and lucious trees that scaled much taller than normal.</p><p>“Now then…” Professor Ursula began, having somehow conjured up herself a clipboard. “I believe you three should be near the middle of the second row of dorm rooms... right side?” She continued to talk to herself, waltzing and looking around to make sure she hadn’t been going the wrong way. Akko then soon realized that the hallway ended in a vast, and open area, what would likely be their team’s common area.</p><p>A large, cathedral like shape almost was the form the room took after walking through a vast opening in the ending wall, likely too big for any door to fit in without it being impossible to open due to its weight alone. Large, flat walls on either side that ended in a circular pattern, likely the side of one of the larger connecting towers of the building. Each wall had multitudes of outcroppings, connected by various spiral staircases surrounded by ornate metal designs, and opened up to each level of the dorm rooms that this area held. The room almost felt as though it went up so high, her own house could fit right in the middle with ease, maybe even a second one could be stacked upon it. Various witches wandered around the common area, entering and exiting their own rooms, and using the staircase to go above and below. The center of the room was adorned with various couches, chairs, tables, even some greenery in the form of carefully squared bushes, and a fountain in the very center.</p><p>“I hope you’re able to make your way through this mess, I can barely manage already…” Professor Ursula spoke, finally turning to the girls once again. “Orientation should begin soon, but it wouldn’t hurt to unpack a few things, and get changed into your proper attire, hm?”</p><p>“B-But where exactly are we staying?” Akko asked, still dumbfounded by the scope of the building, and it being only one of many parts of the whole school.</p><p>“This room has 2 sides, with 5 floors each of dorm rooms… You should be on the third floor, right side… Room 27!” She responded, finally looking sure of herself after having flipped back and forth through the sheets she held in the simple wooden clipboard.</p><p>“Ah, that’s close to the bathroom, that’s good at least!” Lotte spoke up, having perked up from the events prior. “Although, I might need to spend some time sending my broom in…” Lotte followed up, holding up the broken broom.</p><p>“I don’t think we can send in brooms to be fixed today, I’m afraid…” Ursula spoke.</p><p>“Can we get going now? I need to get all of this stuff somewhere.” Sucy said, holding out the now copious amounts of things that fell out of her own bags, and the large Cockatrice feather she snatched in the forest.</p><p>“A-Ah, alright!” Ursula quickly said, now already making her way out of the Red common area. “Just get situated, and be in the grand hall on time!” She shouted at them, now lightly sprinting down the halls of the school, likely having just remembered she had somewhere to be.</p><p>“Okay, my first official day of witch school has finally begun!” Akko exclaimed, psyching herself up as she pumped up her fist. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with the Shiny Rod though.” She followed up, having held it on her back for now.</p><p>“Just keep it in the room for now, I’m sure it’ll be useful for something!” Lotte said, now walking by Akko’s side as the three made their way to the right side’s stairs.</p><p>“The rooms better not be cramped, I hate tiny rooms.” Sucy said, now having gone to Akko’s other side. “That, and I need somewhere safe to keep this feather, lest someone gets poisoned by touching it the wrong way.” They continued, looking mischievous despite the “concern” she spoke of.</p><p>The room was huge, sure, but still simple enough to get around despite that. The walkways that took up the “floors” of the large room were fairly wide, allowing easy foot traffic, and carpeted to allow a much softer step, likely so nobody was woken up by squeaking feet in the dead of night. Having finally navigated to Room 27, the three quickly entered, Lotte chiming in by using an incantation to bring light to the room, quickly lighting up the various candles placed around.</p><p>The room was cozy, having a window at the far wall, a large desk that spanned the whole wall under it, a few chairs sitting underneath. To the left, was a large bunk bed, and adjacent to it on the other wall, was a single bed. Various other cupboards and cabinets adorned what else would be open spaces in the room, and a second door to the right side.</p><p>“Woah…” Akko gasped as she took in the simple room, clearly treating it much more grand than it really was, until she was quickly interrupted by Sucy, walking right into the room, and slumping down on the single bed.</p><p>“Dibs.” She said, looking at the two other girls, leaving them surprised. “You miss every shot you don’t take.” Sucy continued, a simple smile now on her face.</p><p>Akko, now realizing the severity of the situation, quickly threw down her luggage, and jumped right onto the bottom of the bunk bed, feeling and looking rather proud of herself. “I call dibs on this one, then!” she shouted out, laughing all the while. Lotte was still confused, but conceded with a smile to take the top bunk of the bed. All that was left for the group now, was to unpack everything they can with the now few minutes they have left until orientation now officially starts, and to finally dress into their official witch garbs.</p><p>“Aww… what do you mean I don’t get to wear the cloak and hat regularly?” Akko whined, looking at Lotte, with puppy dog eyes.</p><p>“We usually wear our uniforms without the cloak and hat normally, because it wouldn’t be formal to wear the cloak and hat, we’re witches in training after all!” She explained, patting down her hat and trying to free it of the various leaves it had gathered from the woods, and few blades of grass. “It would be kind of rude to walk around in the full outfit, but not entirely trained yet, wouldn’t you agree?” Lotte finished, looking back at Akko, now in her full uniform.</p><p>“I suppose that’s true…” she whined, having accepted the explanation.</p><p>“That, and it’s a hassle to keep this hat with you all day.” Sucy added on, trying to get it to sit right on her head. “These things are not friendly to people with thick hair.”</p><p>As they continued to chat away, their attention was drawn to a gust of wind flowing from under the door, along with it, a carefully sealed envelope, which was strangely much more wide than usual. Akko was the first to reach it, and slid her fingernail under the wax seal, prying it up, and taking out the folded sheet of parchment.</p><p>
  <em>Orientation shall begin soon, make your way to the Main Hall posthaste. Should you be new to this school, we have provided a map for you to navigate the building with.</em>
</p><p>“So, we get a free map, but no free ride?” Akko said as she fully read the letter, the other two girls behind her shoulders.</p><p>“This place is huge, but there’s many ways of getting around.” Lotte assured, adjusting her spectacles to look closer at the map.</p><p>“I hope we aren’t late, we’ve already been given a bit more time.” Sucy said, having stood up. “Let’s get going then, it said “posthaste” after all.”</p><p>“Okay, time for me to see what this place is all about!” Akko beamed, having triumphantly stood up, once again pumping her fist in the air, map clutched in her other hand. “Follow me, and we’ll get to the main hall in a few moments!” She continued, having already begun to speed out of the room, and into the common area.</p><p>“H-Hey, wait up, Akko!” Lotte called out, holding onto her hat as she made chase.</p><p>“This is going to be a long 3 years.” Sucy said with a small shake of her head, swiftly following behind the group of witches.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know this chapter goes over the anime's opening episode almost entirely, but I promise it will get better with more original stuff added onto the story! I also hope you don't mind the sudden end, I already wrote almost 10 thousand words today, and I need somewhere to end off chapter 2!</p><p>I decided to vastly change the location that is Luna Nova itself, and make it much larger and grand than it is in the anime itself, I hope you don't mind it!</p><p>Please, do look forward for more updates in the future!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Encounters! Love and Life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The first day continues, and along the way are old and new faces!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was a while in the making, wasn't it?</p><p>I originally started writing this shortly after finishing Chapter 2, but due to life and Also just a whole bunch of "I'll do this soon!" It ended up coming out... months later!</p><p>I truly hope you enjoy it, and please do comment any criticism possible- I'm always willing to hear it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>“Akko, do you even know where you’re going anymore?!”</p><p>“I should! We take a right at this corner…”</p><p>“You’ve been saying that the past 5 minutes, you know. You’re lucky we still somehow have time.”</p><p>The hallways were loud with various footsteps racing around the school, witches of all shapes and sizes trying to find their way to the Orient, faeries flying overhead through their own highways to try and keep the school in order due as best they could during the sudden influx of foot traffic around the school. In the middle of it all, a loud brunette was leading a group of 3 witches total, map in hand.</p><p>“Seriously, Akko, at least let me see the map again…” Groaned the orange haired Lotte, looking a bit upset.</p><p>Having finally given in, the brunette haired Atsuko relinquished the map to Lotte. “Fiiiine, but I swear I was about to get us there…” She said, looking overly upset with her cheeks puffed out.</p><p>Lotte, now looking at the map herself more closely, realized that it was not only somehow upside down, but their current location was labeled on a dot, that scrolled upon it as they moved, which Lotte tested by walking around in a tiny circle. With a tired look on her face, she turned to the other 2 witches.</p><p>“Akko, you know this was upside down the whole time, right...?” She asked, the shine of the sun overtaking her glasses, leaving her true expression hidden.</p><p>Akko only began to shift a bit in place, sweating. “I-It was..? Ahaha… I didn’t notice…”</p><p>Lotte began getting closer to Akko. “And, that the entire time, it shows our place on the map?”</p><p>Akko looked tinier almost, sweating even more under the intense pressure. “W-What, was it..? I-I don’t think I noticed that either, hehehe…”</p><p>Sucy only watched as the two verbally duked it out, and pointed ahead. “Hey, isn’t that the Blue Team’s area?” She asked, catching the two other girl’s attention.</p><p>Ahead of them, was a modestly sized door, in comparison to their grandiose entry to their respective quarters.</p><p>“I think so…” Lotte answered, her attention taken off of Akko, which the brunette appreciated with an audible sigh of relief.</p><p>“I think they’re supposed to be the distinguished people or something.” Sucy elaborates. “I suppose we should just ask to follow one of them or something, beats being lost in a building as big as this thanks to our navigator.”</p><p>“H-Hey, I didn’t realize the map had a tracker on it or something!” Akko squealed in response, now looking even more embarrassed.</p><p>“And the fact that it was upside-down, I don’t know how you managed to miss that detail.” Sucy continued, looking more mischievous, but her eyes kept calm.</p><p>“Sh-Shut up…” Akko concedes, and comically angles her head downward in defeat, which excites a small chuckle from Sucy.</p><p>As they were conversing, the door was opened with an audible creak, taking a hold of the group’s attention, as they then watched a group of 3 witches walk out. Dressed in similar garb- the only difference being the color of their ribbon, being a lighter blue- the 3 of them filed out of the door a bit packed together, but began walking forward. The other group was talking as one with a darker hair color checked their own map, clearly a bit confused.</p><p>“Hey, is this supposed to show you where you are? I think it is but I can’t quite tell…” The dark haired witch spoke, continuing to look at the map in various areas to get a grasp of the school’s interior.</p><p>“Eh?” The Auburn haired witch responded, now peeking at the map as well. “Yeah, I think it is, see the dot there?” They continued, pointing on their map. “I think that’s supposed to be us… Or just you, Barbara.”</p><p>“You think? I don’t remember this being a thing, but I think they must’ve like, had some trouble with student’s finding their way... “ The dark haired witch continued- Barbara. She scanned the map some more, before turning to the last witch of the group. “Hey, Diana, what do you think?”</p><p>The group in front of them had moved only slightly, to reveal the blonde, yet somewhat minty haired witch behind the two, looking only forward with eyes as deep as the sea itself, the blue hues of a vast calm ocean.</p><p>“It’s tracking our location to let us know where we are currently, so we can easily navigate the schools myriad corridors.” The witch named Diana explained, looking at them with a critical, yet somehow friendly gaze. “I can only imagine it’s for those who aren’t acquainted enough with the establishment, but it would not hurt to keep it around, hm?” Diana continued, looking directly at the witch Barbara, holding the map.</p><p>“If that’s the case then, like, why don’t you hold onto it, Hannah?” Barbara started, already handing off the map to them after quickly rolling it up. “You’re better with this kind of stuff than I am.”</p><p>“I guess…” The witch named Hannah responded, fake whining at the offer, which incited a small giggle from Barbara. She then unrolled the map and continued to hold it out as they continued forward down the hallway.</p><p>The two witches at Akko’s side only stared at the group, as they continued down the hall, paying them no mind at all other than passing stares, which the other group only briefly returned as they continued on their own journey.</p><p>Akko, however, had gazed at the blonde-haired witch, Diana she was called, since the moment she was even visible to the group. As the groups finally came at a proverbial stand-still, them just about to pass Akko’s group, Akko’s eyes locked with the eyes of the distinguished Diana.</p><p>Their fates now intertwined, the first meeting between Atsuko Kagari, and Diana Cavendish happens in nothing more than but a passing second, in the middle of a magic school hallway.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It felt as though time itself stood still. Their surroundings slowly disappearing, the only thing remaining was the ocean they now stood on, surrounded by the vast skylines of sunny rays and fluffy clouds. The ocean moved and waved underneath them, as all they did was stare into each other’s eyes.</p><p>Diana’s gaze was harsh, critical, analyzing, and yet at the same time, it held just a hint of softness. Many emotions held within the window into their sea of thoughts, and Akko could only look back with her eyes wide, eyebrows raised slightly, and mouth only slightly open. She looked stunned, and she couldn’t even understand <em> why </em>.</p><p>She was feeling something entirely different, something new, something unexplainable.</p><p>Diana continued to stare at her, as they kept in this frozen state, analyzing every feature, every emotion that her eyes had held. Akko could only attempt to do the same back, trying to read whatever she could out of the vast, swirling seas that were held inside that girl- no, that maiden’s eyes. The sheer complexion was incomprehensible for the moment, so many things held within just the eyes of another.</p><p><em> ‘Wait, “Maiden?” Why am I calling her a maiden?’ </em> She briefly thought, as she could slowly feel heat begin to rise up her body.</p><p>She began to feel… warm.</p><p>Her chest was getting <em> hotter </em>, even fluttering slightly as she continued to stare this girl down. Her brain was running a mile a minute, yet she couldn’t articulate any actual thoughts, words entirely escaping her as she drank in the surroundings, and the girl in front of her.</p><p>She looked <em> beautiful </em>, everything about her was entrancing, almost to an intoxicating degree as she looked her over earnestly. She felt embarrassed- who wouldn’t? But she couldn’t help but continue as she looked down at the girl’s figure, realizing that she had a very similar build to her own, but was somehow just the slight bit taller. Her witch uniform looked practically tailor-made to be worn by this one girl alone, it fit her look perfectly, matched well with her unique and elegant hairstyle, and only highlighted their radiance, their sheer beauty.</p><p>The more Akko looked, the more her heart continued to grow hotter and hotter, fluttering more and more, as it felt like butterflies began to make up her bloodstream more than blood itself. She felt an increasing sense of warm-fuzzies throughout her body as she stared at this girl, a feeling that she had not felt once- well, rather very little at all.</p><p>Beginning to feel slightly awkward and embarrassed at how long she felt like she was staring at her, Akko blinked once in what felt like days of keeping her eyes pried open, just so she could continue to stare just a bit longer. Her thoughts finally running into a blank as she felt herself question nearly everything about herself that she didn’t know, or at least hadn’t discovered.</p><p>Questions racked her brain and quickly were drowned out by others, the assault of sound reverberating around, not once stopping, until she was finally able to articulate just one, single question to ask herself.</p><p>
  <em> ’What… is this feeling…?’ </em>
</p><p>Time finally began to resume as her surroundings once again became apparent to her. The hallway they were in finally returning into her vision, no longer was the beautiful ocean she was once in under her feet, almost like it retreated back into the eyes of the maiden. She watched intently as the Blue team group walked down the hall, Diana’s gaze lingering on Akko’s chestnut eyes for only a second longer, before returning ahead of them.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Akko, hey, are you alright?” A worried voice came to her, finally knocking Akko off of cloud 9.</p><p>“E-Eh?” The witch responded, her thoughts still trying to catch up to reality after her out-of-body experience she was living in for what felt like years. “Y-Yeah, I think I zoned out…”</p><p>“Hm, was staring at the posh witch too much for you, country girl?” Sucy asked her with a chuckle, but with no malice behind it. Akko only playfully puffed out her cheeks in response and stuck her tongue out at them.</p><p>“As if! She just looked really, eye-catching, y'know what I mean? You hardly see anybody with white-ish hair and they’re that young.” Akko responded, trying her best to keep her thoughts in check before they were blurted out with the rest of her words.</p><p>“Well, She’s right, Sucy.” Lotte chimed in, looking more happy now than annoyed, the thoughts of them going the entire wrong way leaving their mind. “Hey, how about we follow them, they seem to know where they’re going.” She continued, having turned her head to look over her shoulder as she swiveled ahead, already beginning to walk in the direction Diana’s group had gone in.</p><p>“Beats getting expelled.” Sucy deadpanned, having lightly tapped Akko’s shoulder to once again break the girl out of her racing thoughts.</p><p>“R-Right!” She quickly responded, jogging slightly to catch up with them.</p><p>Akko walked with Lotte and Sucy in the same direction all other witches were going in now, mob mentality taking hold over a bit of panic as the many witches of the school finally managed to gather their sense of direction, or just followed those who had it to begin with.</p><p>But with the noises of them all: ambient conversation and the clicking of their shoes against the polished floors of marble and granite, Akko could not once break out of her interrogation room that had been erected in her mind. She could only ask herself questions as she answered, pondering what they meant.</p><p>Staring at just one girl was enough to knock Akko into the depths of her mind, a pit of darkness, questions flying by left and right. And to top it all off, her overactive mind had decided to <em> quite literally </em> hold her hostage in a cognitive interrogation room she made for both halves of her mind.</p><p><em> ’Why did you keep staring at that Diana girl?’ </em> She asked herself many times.</p><p><em> ’I just… couldn’t look away.’ </em> She responded in kind.</p><p><em> ’And why could you not look away?’ </em> Her cognitive “Bad Cop” continued, looking at her with flaming content and determination.</p><p><em> ’She just… made me feel warm…’ </em> She continued sheepishly, wondering what that feeling of “warmth” truly meant.</p><p>Almost as if they knew exactly what to ask now, the voice continued on. with a slam on the table in front of them and their eyes seeing a resolve even more clear, she raised her voice only slightly.</p><p>
  <em> ’And what do you mean by “warm?” What does that mean to us?’ </em>
</p><p>Despite it being asked by herself, this was a hard one to answer in the moment. Akko could only consult her archives of memory, good and bad, to search her way for that emotion she felt; that warmth that filled her body with such a comfortable, yet exhilarating feeling.</p><p>No matter how long she searched, through memories of being a kid, through memories only months prior, she hadn’t been able to lock on where she felt this feeling in the past- if she even had at all. The only thing that was possibly close was her fateful encounter with Shiny Chariot, where she first felt her love for magic bloom, her life taking a turn for the new path she wished to pave.</p><p>It was then, she realized what she was trying to find.</p><p><em> ’I… I think… I think it’s love…’ </em> She told her cognitive self.</p><p>Silence filled the proverbial room, as the doubles stared into each other’s eyes.</p><p><em> ’How can that be, you’ve only just looked at this person once!’ </em> The mental Atsuko began, raising her voice suddenly. <em> ’And even then, how do you know that it’s love, are you not a girl, aren’t you not allowed to love another girl?’ </em> Her other self continued, looking with a stern, and yet confused facial expression.</p><p>She was confused, almost afraid as well. This was a question she never thought she would ask herself, and she was part ways confused and afraid of the answer, knowing that it’s not something that could be so simple.</p><p>Atsuko knew within her heart-of-hearts that she was only being hard on herself so she could further analyze this feeling, it’s hard to get her to do a lot when she isn’t being scolded sometimes. She pondered the harsh question with another line of thought, thinking about “the norm” and what that truly means in-of itself. What it meant to them.</p><p>Akko not once hesitated in thinking that she truly did not care for the norm, her life was already set on exploring the magical world; which was obviously enough for her and others of being “not the norm.” She truly had no need to care for the standards set in place when she was already set on practicing the vast world of magic, had she wished to be normal, she wouldn’t have gone down this path.</p><p>Her mind then slammed to a halt as a single question filled Akko’s mind. She thought back to prior questions asked, and thought back to what she answered. She looked to her other self, dead in the eyes.</p><p><em> ’Am I… just not into guys?’ </em> She asked herself, sheepishly rubbing behind her head with a chuckle.</p><p>The cognitive form of herself had not answered. They only looked at them, stunned.</p><p>The more she looked back, the more she saw herself grow up into who she was, scanning memories of her encounters with boys other than her minimal ones of her own father. Every attempt they made to get closer to her was shot down, every move they made cut off as she comically referred to them as “icky” when she was much younger, and “gross” as she grew older.</p><p>She truly began to work the cogs in her mind as she continued to travel through her years of memory, citing each and every instance of the question she asked herself as she continued to consult her memories for the answer, realizing more and more the tiny hints of feeling towards her female peers from time to time, only to be shot down by her feeling of friendship more than relationship.</p><p>She had always felt as though she was attracted to the same sex, but truly wasn’t able to grasp the feeling until she felt it so intensely just recently. Akko had finally decided to pack up the search, and found the now obvious truth, and answer:</p><p>She truly wasn’t into guys- rather the opposite, she was into girls. She was a <em> Lesbian </em>. Why else would she feel such an intense, warm feeling towards another girl if it were not that she felt, rather obviously attracted to them?</p><p>One word strung a cord in her mind, and she quickly launched another investigation, before she let herself forget. She remembered having overheard conversations in her youth and her older years, conversations she thought as mocking and rude; sad memories.</p><p><em> ”I bet she’s just gross and likes girls instead…” </em> Came the juvenile, slight snearing of a young child, Primary-School aged.</p><p><em> ”She’s probably just one of those lesbo’s, just leave her be, she won’t find anybody.” </em> Came a much older, cocky voice. This one was more vivid, Junior-High School aged.</p><p>She thought of only a few more instances of the word, and a few other loose comments from classmates much younger. Had she truly been this clueless the whole time, unable to see the truth that was so clearly put in her face so early on? She chuckled to herself, it seemed so much like her.</p><p><em> ’I suppose I can be read really easily, yet I can barely ever manage to read myself!’ </em> She said, chuckles turning into full blown laughter, as her raging thoughts finally subsided, happy with the answer she found.</p><p>She could feel the world around her become much more calm, as she watched the darkness cloaking her surroundings open up to a clear, sunny skyline, laughing all the while without a care in the world.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Hey, Akko, are you alright?” The concerned voice of Lotte said, now patting Akko on the shoulder.</p><p>“H-Hm?” The confused witch responded, looking around.</p><p>She had entirely auto-piloted her way with her group into their spot in orientation, a large room with rows of chairs, lining even the walls, and even above them on an overhang. Surrounding them all was witches of all kinds, teams, colors- and she had somehow managed to gather attention with her characteristically bubbly, audible giggles. With a few idle heads turned her way with questioning gazes, Akko realized she somehow managed to let just a bit of herself seep out of her head.</p><p>With a soft and embarrassed chuckle, she managed to pipe herself down before she caused more of a scene. “S-Sorry…”</p><p>Still trying to take in the scene, a few heads turned away when Akko uttered her apology, but one didn’t- well, a few in a group didn’t. Akko scanned the room again to try and find the people who were still giving her this feeling of being watched, and managed to lock eyes with a group fairly far away, many rows ahead and to her left; Barbara, Hannah, and Diana.</p><p>Akko felt petrified, frozen solid on the spot by the icy stares she was receiving by Barbara and Hannah, who looked somehow slightly <em> disgusted </em> with her. Worst of all, Diana in the middle of the two girls stared at her with that same look she had given her before, but Akko could tell that it somehow meant a different meaning this time around.</p><p>Her brows were more furrowed, she looked only just the slightest bit angrier. Despite showing such minimal emotion, it sent what felt like a speeding bullet directly into Akko’s heart, the powerful, raw emotion in their eyes made her feel slightly sick with herself. As a result, it made her slump down in her seat on instinct, keeping her, and the stares, out of sight.</p><p>“H-Hey, Akko, are you okay?” Lotte quickly said, slouching a bit over her to cover her sadness, surprised that her friend just suddenly looked like all of the life she had in her was suddenly sucked out.</p><p>“M-Mmph…” Was the only response Akko could give while feeling this dejected.</p><p>“Leave her be for a minute, she’ll be fine.” Sucy told Lotte, having been sat next to Akko on her other side.</p><p>“Okay, but just keep your chin up, alright, Akko?” Lotte told her with a pat on the shoulder, and a smile on her face, quickly getting up again to sit in her seat properly.</p><p>Akko quickly perked up from the gesture, a smile on her still slightly sad face, and propped herself back up in her seat properly, Lotte responding with another smile.</p><p>“I-It’s nothing, I promise, okay?” Akko told the two, to which Lotte responded with a nod, but Sucy just looked at Akko with a face of slight confusion.</p><p>“You sure? You seemed very out of it.” Sucy pressed, but Akko just shook it off with a shake of the head.</p><p>“I promise, I just got a bit lost in my head is all, it’s nothing too big.” The brunette told them with their usual fervor.</p><p>With only a moment of thought, Sucy sighed, and gave Akko a calm smile. “Alright, but don’t think too hard, you might blow a fuse.”</p><p>She accepted Sucy’s grin with a light nod, and chalked off the comment to only kind teasing. She then turned ahead of them to <em> attempt </em> to pay attention to orientation. She was lucky in that the room was talking quite low-yet-audibly as the teachers were preparing something in the front of the room, which later turned out to be a coordinated magical spell to translate spoken words into text, in multiple different languages too.</p><p>“Geez, magic really is a universal language…” Akko spoke in a whisper now that the room died down. “At least they have japanese, I might’ve had a bit of trouble following along with english…”</p><p>“Well, it basically is a universal language by definition, anybody can do it and use it.” Lotte responded, looking ahead with earnest and pulling most of her attention towards the front of the room.</p><p>“Is one of the teachers a fish?” Sucy asked, making sure to keep her already low voice even lower.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>After a fairly lengthy introduction to the school and it’s teachers- that Akko had admittedly fallen asleep during a few times, the witches finally began to file out, following their team leaders as they marched through the halls.</p><p>“Alright, while you are under my protection and care, you’d best all behave yourself, understand?” Came a loud and booming voice of the second red team leader, who Akko miraculously remembered being named Anne Finnelan (“Professor Finnelan, if you please!” She told the witches at orientation.) “I will not be having any type of roughhousing or fighting, neither any spell-casting other than the simplest of spells past curfew at 9PM to avoid any unnecessary mishaps, understood?” The professor boomed again, which incited all of the witches to quickly respond with a unanimous ‘Yes Ma’am!’</p><p>The other team leader, who Akko could easily remember and identify as Professor Ursula, was startled by Finnelan’s loud voice, but began to speak up herself. “A-And do remember that our personal quarters are not far from the Red Team dormitories, if you have any issues, don’t hesitate to come around, or use a familiar to deliver a quick note if you’re not feeling up to meeting us in person!”</p><p>Another loud and unanimous ‘Yes Ma’am!’ was heard, along with a few voices who only hummed and nodded in agreement. They seem to already know that Professor Ursula was a lot more easygoing in comparison to Professor Finnelan.</p><p>“Are there any questions for any of us?” Finnelan asked with her head scanning the various witches in front of her, until she saw a brunette in the back raise her hand.</p><p>“I-If it’s okay, would it be alright if I call the professors ‘Sensei?’” Akko asked, a bit afraid at first, given how different the cultures were in England in comparison to Japan, she couldn’t quite grasp if it was a good or bad idea to bring it up in front of a lot of people.</p><p>“I don’t see why not. I do believe it is in your culture to do so?” Ursula responded before Finnelan could jump to answer with an overly loud tone.</p><p>“Yeah, something like that.” The japanese witch responded with a small smile. “Thank you very much, Ursula-Sensei!”</p><p>Finnelan turned to Ursula with a bit of an annoyed look at being interrupted, but it quickly mellowed out into their usual bordering-on-scowl-but-more-so-serious face.</p><p>“Alright, if that is all, then you all are dismissed!” Finnelan shouted out, startling a few witches in the process.</p><p>As if on perfect cue, all the students then proceeded to break off into groups, and started to walk their ways to their respective rooms.</p><p>“Hey, Akko, do you want to tell us what you were thinking earlier, or…?” Lotte spoke up, gathering the 3 witches’ attention.</p><p>“It’s something... that should be kept behind closed doors, and preferably secret!” Akko responded, turning her head specifically to Sucy, who only chuckled a bit.</p><p>“I get it, I get it, you don’t need to tell me twice that you have a big secret you need to hide, I won’t work it out of you… yet.” Sucy responded, still chuckling.</p><p>“You better get it…” Akko huffed, puffing her cheeks out playfully angry, and managing to somehow ignore the ending part of that statement.</p><p>Now that she continued to think about it, how exactly was she supposed to tell them what she realized in a way that didn’t come across as weird, or strange? Especially now that she’s pretty much obligated to tell them, because they’re going to be living together for days on end, what <em> should </em> she tell them without sounding like a total idiot, or even a possible creep in the process?</p><p>“H-Hey… You guys are my friends, right…?” Akko sheepishly asked them, twiddling her fingers. “I-I know we only met just today, so it might still be a bit weird…”</p><p>The other two witches looked at the brunette, with slight confusion at first, until Lotte gave her yet another smile, and Sucy followed suit.</p><p>“I don’t see why we wouldn’t be!” Lotte started, keeping her smile trained on Akko. “You seem very nice, really outgoing, and you practically saved our lives today so selflessly!”</p><p>“That, and your smile is more contagious than any poison I’ve encountered, although I’m just exaggerating.” Sucy followed up, as she took off her hat to curl some strands of long lavender hair behind her ear. “These hats do not work well with my hairstyle…”</p><p>“O-Okay…” The brunette witch responded, head down low, still feeling slightly worried about what was ahead.</p><p>The witches walked, slightly marching their way back to the Red team living areas, until both of their respective leaders suddenly stood in front of the three witches, to which Lotte and Sucy stopped in front of them, but Akko continued ahead, unable to see the people in front of them. She then bumped into Professor Ursula accidentally, causing the brunette to nearly fall backwards onto her haunches, only to be caught by a magical rope cast by Professor Finnelan.</p><p>“I’m sorry for informing you three on such late notice, but I have some important news to tell you all.” Finnelan began, paying no mind to the witch within her magical grasp as she frantically looked around, confused. “I am pleased to appoint to you three a new member to both the Red team’s ranks, and a roommate for you all to get along with.”</p><p>Akko was still in some form of shock from nearly dying, (she’s outplaying it heavily,) while the pair of Lotte and Sucy shoot each other confused looks, clearly gathering both Professor’s attention.</p><p>“I know it’s on such short notice, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, we weren’t able to get them here on time for orientation, and due to how many students we have… we had to find somewhere to put them.” Professor Ursula explained, now stepping aside to reveal the witch behind her.</p><p>“This is another new member to our school of Luna Nova, Amaya Hisa.” Finnelan boomed, as she moved slightly to the side as well, to put the new student within full view.</p><p>To say the least, she looked very much shy, and embarrassed for some reason. Her raven black hair was ruffled and curled under her witches hat, draping down each side with a bit of fluff, with her nearby eyes shining a brilliant sunset light pink with orange hues. Dressed in the school’s garbs and long, pure black leggings that shone in the light with a tinge of red, and simple loafers in red, she kept shuffling her feet just a bit, and tapping one foot from time to time.</p><p>Standing there, shifting, she waved her hand to the three witches. Akko, having finally recovered from her life flashing before her eyes with an exasperated gasp, was able to see the gesture.</p><p>
  
</p><p>“...H’llo…” The timid girl spoke, trying to look away and yet into each of their eyes, still shifting on her feet.</p><p>Akko was slightly taken aback by the girl, for reasons that weren’t entirely evident to them. They looked calm and nice, but there was something about them that just struck Akko as <em> off. </em></p><p>“Hello there!” Lotte called out to them, clearly deciding to break the silence, as she equally as timidly walked up to the girl, to shake her hand, with which Amaya accepted. “I’m Lotte Yanson, and to my right here, is Atsuko Kagari, and Sucy Manbaveran!” She continued, using her free hand to motion to each girl.</p><p>Sucy gave them a kind wave, yet kept her face their usual amount of emotionless, whereas Akko still had an investigative look on her face.</p><p>Lotte noticed this, and looked back to Amaya, who was now both parts embarrassed and confused, and sweating just a bit more. Lotte just sighed, and gave Amaya an apologetic smile.</p><p>“Now then, with introductions out of the way, I must remind you girls that you must still be on absolutely your best behavior.” Finnelan started, gathering their attention with a heel-click on the floor. “I have already made arrangements, and set up a second bunk bed in your dorm room. Considering you all now have a 4 woman party, we have installed a small, one person bathroom, and some extra storage.” Finnelan listed off, which prompted Ursula to check a clipboard she still continued to hold at her side since hours earlier, and double checked the professor’s claims, to which she gave them a nod.</p><p>“Alright, you four are dismissed, and I do hope none of you cause any excessive trouble.” Finnelan finished, and walked over to place a hand on Amaya’s shoulder, and gave them a calm smile. Not even a moment after, they quickly walked past the group, Ursula in tow right behind them.</p><p>“Today was much too long for my liking.” Sucy spoke up, fingers on her temples. “I went to bed pretty early, but today’s felt like 3 wrapped into one.”</p><p>“Yeah, to think we’d end up nearly dying at the hands of a Cockatrice and then end up to school on time…” Lotte whined, having slumped down a bit, feeling the tiredness take hold of their body.</p><p>“Hey, what’s your name?” Akko spoke up, asking Amaya for information she had already known, but decided to make a much better impression for herself, looking at them with a wide smile and open eyes.</p><p>“I-It’s Amaya, Amaya Hisa…” The girl responded, with a nervous smile. “I know it probably sounds a bit weird, but…”</p><p>“I think it’s cool! The wording is backwards though, but you could read it like a manga!” Akko spoke up more enthusiastically, beaming at the raven haired girl.</p><p>“E-Eh? You know what my name means...?” Amaya said, now with just pure confusion over their face, having forgotten about the embarrassment she just previously felt.</p><p>“Yeah, I’m japanese, after all!” The brunette continued to beam, looking proud of herself. “It means everlasting rain if you read it backwards, but that’s kinda gloomy, though.” She continued, her body language shifting slightly to accentuate the point.</p><p>“I-I know, it’s kinda depressing…” Amaya conceded, slumping down with a defeated groan.</p><p>“How about I just call you Ami, and you can just call me Akko!” Akko continued, patting Amaya on the shoulder.</p><p>“E-Eh?! A-Ami…?” The witch responded, shifting on the spot and darting her eyes back and forth, with a flushed face, reaching to the tips of her ears.</p><p>“Yeah, Ami would be ‘friend’, so your name backwards would be ‘everlasting friend!’” Akko explained, her smile going from ear to ear. “I think it’s a lot more happy sounding, at least!”</p><p>“I-I wouldn’t mind that…” Amaya responded, with a smile on her face, and rosy cheeks. “B-But just don’t forget my actual name!” They continued, sounding a bit worried for her own future.</p><p>Sucy, now having walked past the group, gathered all of their attention easily.</p><p>“Hey, can we get back to our room now? I gotta make sure they didn’t take any contraband.” They spoke, monotonously, despite how serious the words they spoke were.</p><p>“C-Contraband?” Lotte squeaked, quickly jogging to catch up to Sucy. “Y-You shouldn’t be bringing in stuff like that, Sucy!”</p><p>Only Akko and Ami were left in the hallway, both with equally as confused expressions.</p><p>“Sh-Should we be going…?” Ami spoke up, looking at Akko with a slightly worried, but still happy smile.</p><p>“Yeah, let’s go, I’ll lead you there!” The brunette witch told them, jogging ahead and waving behind them, causing Ami to follow behind.</p><p>“J-Just don’t go super fast, I’m not the best runner!”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The two witches quickly walked up the curling stairs and dashed to their room, the door having been left slightly open to give them easy entry. With a quick and easy grabbing of the door handle, Akko opened it, letting herself in and leaving it agape for Ami to follow just behind them.</p><p>The room had been altered only slightly, a second bunk bed in place of the singular one, and a now existing door off on the right side of the room, the singular bathroom they were given. Lotte had already been resting on the bottom bunk, hat discarded as she huffed loudly, clearly exhausted. Sucy sitting adjacent to them on the other side’s bottom bunk, a bit agitated.</p><p>“They took some of my good ingredients…” Sucy muttered under her breath.</p><p>Akko watched as Ami timidly walked forward, and grabbed a now obvious red suitcase, likely placed into the room earlier.</p><p>“Hey, Ami, did you already put your stuff in here?” Lotte asked, watching the black haired witch open it up, and scrounge around a bit.</p><p>“Y-Yeah… I got here a bit late due to some complications, so I had to make sure the school knew that I just wasn’t able to make it to orientation on time… Someone put in a word for me to make sure I wasn’t expelled too…” They explained, rummaging around the suitcase to pull out a plastic baggie of pill bottles. “E-Excuse me, but I’ll just use the washroom for a minute…”</p><p>The three witches watched the girl take off her witches cap, taking the baggie into the bathroom, and closing the door behind them slowly.</p><p>“She seems nice, but I can’t quite put a finger on the fact that they just seem a bit off to me.” Akko blurted out, still staring at the bathroom door. “I mean, why did we need a singular washroom now exactly? We’re just a few doors away from one!”</p><p>“A-Akko, don’t be rude like that!” Lotte told them with a hint of worry in her tone. “They seem nice, they’re just really shy.” They continued, her expression going from worry into a more serious face.</p><p>“I-I know that but… don’t they just look a bit off to you?” Akko continued, shifting on her heels back and forth. “I don’t mean to sound rude but, they just look a bit <em> different </em>, like their jaw just seems a bit too pronounced, and their shoulders seem a bit more broader. That’s what I mean by off.”</p><p>“I noticed that as well, but I didn’t really pay it any mind.” Sucy interjected, having taken off their hat and pulled out a mushroom-shaped hairbrush. “They seemed really anxious, though. I understand going to magic school could probably be a bit different for anybody, but they seemed more so anxious in regards to us, instead of the surroundings.” The lavender witch continued, putting down the brush and resting their head on one arm.</p><p>“I-I mean, I did see that too… their eyes darted around an awful lot…” Lotte conceded, a face of worry now present. “But how did either of you see the stuff like their jaw being a bit different?”</p><p>“I know plenty enough about human anatomy,” Sucy began, raising her head up in thought. “It’s obvious for me to tell stuff like that out, I can read people’s physical features pretty well for my own needs.”</p><p>“I could tell because of how often I see other people, I was always one to be around friends.” Akko continued, stopping her heel movements. “I picked up on a few things I guess!” They finished, moving her arms up to her collar to take off the uniform.</p><p>Ami then cracked open the bathroom door, peeking an arm out.</p><p>“I-I’m so sorry! C-Can someone pass me my suitcase…?” They pleaded from beyond the door, sounding clearly embarrassed and distressed.</p><p>Akko quickly jumped with a defensive stance on one leg, and took a second to process what was just asked.</p><p>“O-Oh, sure!” The brunette then called out, quickly picking up the suitcase and setting it near the crack of the open door. “You need me to hand it to you or something?” They continued, about to lean right into the bathroom by looking through the slightly open door.</p><p>“N-NO! I-I mean... I’m fine! J-Just leave it there by the door please!” Ami called with an obvious, fearful tone, trying her best to make sure she remained unseen.</p><p>“A-Are you okay in there?!” Lotte called out to them, now having stood up, clearly worried.</p><p>“I-I’m okay, I promise!! J-Just give me a second!” Ami called back, as her hand slid down the door and grabbed a pair of shorts, and a graphic shirt from the open case, and quickly retreated back behind the door, closing it shut.</p><p>“Yeah, they seem really anxious towards us.” The lavender witch spoke, having laid down on the bed, arms behind her head. “Should we ask her straight up about it?”</p><p>“I think we should, it would probably be better to make them feel more comfortable around us.” Lotte responded, still looking worried.</p><p>Akko sat down on the floor in thought, clearly still thinking much too into the fact that Ami just looked a bit different, and thinking hard about it, much more than she really should be for something so small.</p><p>The more Akko thought, the more she thought other things were strange. Did they truly need their own private bathroom, they were close enough to the bathroom already, why did they need one for themselves now? Was it because of Ami’s arrival solely? Something was up, and it wasn’t like it was something bad, it was just something weird enough for Akko to want to know the answer behind it.</p><p>After just a few minutes, Ami finally emerged from the bathroom with her school clothes draped over one arm, now with a graphic t-shirt, looking to have interestingly designed red kanji, with a simple cartoon pirate jammed in the upper-middle part- a logo of sorts, and beige shorts.</p><p>“I-I’m sorry for that, I forgot to get a change of clothes from my case…” They said, their other hand behind their head in embarrassment, still looking very anxious.</p><p>Akko, stood up, and walked right in front of Ami, with a face of determination and fire in their eyes.</p><p>“A-Akko, what are you…?” Lotte asked, before watching Akko immediately use both hands to the sides of Ami’s face, causing the girl to immediately flare up with both an intensive blush, and freezing entirely in place.</p><p>“See, it really does feel different!” Akko exclaimed, as she continued to move her hands, now down to the girl’s shoulders. “Even the shoulders too, I knew it!”</p><p>“A-Akko!! Why are you doing that?” Lotte called out, clearly distressed for the raven-haired girl’s sake.</p><p>“Come over here and see for yourself!” Akko called as she turned herself away to show Lotte what they meant. “Their cheeks and stuff are different, and their shoulders really are broader, I knew I wasn’t just imagining it!”</p><p>“A-Akko…” The orange-haired witch responded, with an upset face.</p><p>The room was filled with a deafening silence for a moment, until an audible sniffle was heard.</p><p>“Hm…?”</p><p>Akko turned back to face Ami, slowly taking her hands off of them and backing away only a step.</p><p>They had tears at the corners of her eyes, streaming down the sides of her face only slightly, standing still with a mixture of fear and sadness. Her body completely still as she starts lightly hiccuping, and eventually breaking out into a sob.</p><p>“A-Ami…?” Akko squeaks out as she looks at them, clearly unsure of what to do, or what she did to cause such a reaction, clueless as usual, but by no means did they intend to make them upset.</p><p>The crying witch only stood there for a moment longer, until they dropped their school clothes, immediately turned and sprinted into the bathroom, slamming the door shut with a thud, and an audible click of a lock.</p><p>The room was once again silent as they heard low weeps behind the bathroom door.</p><p>“Well, you certainly proved us ‘wrong,’ I guess.” Sucy said as she stared at the bathroom door, still with her usual emotionless expression.</p><p>Akko only stood still as they stared at the door, an expression of shock on their face.</p><p>“Akko, why did you-” Lotte began, but was cut off by Akko immediately running after the girl and pressing her hands on the bathroom door.</p><p>“A-Ami, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean to make you upset, I…” Akko called out with a voice of fear and sorrow, pounding the door slightly with a balled fist.</p><p>The sobs on the other end didn’t stop, as she could hear Ami slump down to the floor on the other side.</p><p>“I was just too caught up in dumb stuff that didn’t matter, I’m sorry Ami, really I am!!” Akko continued, trying her best to apologize through the closed door. “I don’t know why I even did that, I… I just wasn’t thinking…”</p><p>Through still audible hiccups and sobs, Ami tried to speak, it coming out in low rasps.</p><p>“I-I… I’m s-sorry…” Was all they said, as their sobs got much more hearty, much more emotional.</p><p>What was that supposed to mean, and why did they get so upset all of a sudden? Akko knows that getting so hands-on with a complete stranger more than just simple gestures like a pat on the back wasn’t the best idea now, but she wouldn’t have ever thought about all of this to happen out of nowhere, and now Ami is trying to apologize to them, despite not even being in the wrong.</p><p>“E-Eh? Ami, why are you apologizing to me?” The brunette called to the door, having lowered her voice and stopped rattling the door with her fist. “I-I know we haven’t even known each other for so long, hell, barely any time at all, but I promise to listen if you need…” Akko continued, lowering her voice to her normal talking tone as she slumped down on the floor as well, keeping her ear against the door to listen. “A-And I’m sorry, I know I’m just repeating myself but… I really don’t know why I did that…”</p><p>Silence droned on once again as the sounds of sobs from beyond the door began to get a bit less common, as movement was once again heard in low shifts from inside the bathroom.</p><p>After a few more moments, the bathroom’s lock clicked again to signify that it was unlocked, and Akko quickly shot upward. The door then opened only a few more moments later, as Ami stepped out, tears still streaming down her face as she tried her best to keep calm, shifting left and right in place.</p><p>“I-I… I didn’t mean to… I-I’m sorry…” Ami spoke as they wiped their eyes, the purple irises obscured and diluted with tears.</p><p>Akko needed no time at all to immediately throw the girl in a tight hug. She knew that it might’ve not been the best idea, but a hug goes a lot more miles than randomly slapping your hands on someone's face.</p><p>But, much to the brunette’s surprise, Ami accepted the hug entirely, and let it happen as she wrapped her arms around the girl as well.</p><p>“I-I still don’t get why you’re apologizing to me, but I accept it!” Akko beamed with gusto, patting Ami on the back as they kept in their embrace.</p><p>After a bit of time, Ami backed up a bit, and wiped her eyes once more with a sniffle.</p><p>“I-I suppose I… need to give an explanation…” Ami asked, once again shifting on her feet in embarrassed anxiousness.</p><p>Lotte walked up to Akko’s side with a relieved grin. “If you think you need to, go ahead, but I wouldn’t put it against you if you wanted to just rest instead…!” They said, body expression shifting slightly as they talked.</p><p>“Don’t push yourself so hard, you seem to have a lot on your mind already.” Sucy followed up, having sat themselves up on the side of the bed and looked at Ami with a face of as much concern she could physically show... it wasn’t a lot, but it was still there.</p><p>“I-I’m fine with talking a bit, but don’t you all want to change your clothes to be more comfortable?” Ami asked, looking at each of the girls with a slightly confused look.</p><p>It dawned on them all that they’ve been continuing to wear their school clothes since they’ve officially arrived, Akko having completely forgot that she intended to change earlier as well.</p><p>The witches chuckled a bit, and decided to each use the newly-added bathroom to change their clothes more privately. Having to not wear 2 sets of clothes pretty much every day to avoid any strange interactions was a definite plus now, considering it would be a chore to have to go to the “public” washroom to change, which would likely be populated more around the later hours. That, and now that they had it, may as well make use of it as much as they can.</p><p>First went Sucy, who came out in a record time, taking no more than 10 seconds, having chosen to wear a full ensemble of pajamas no less. They practically were in and out in less time than any of them had silently expected- even after hearing the sink turn on and off.</p><p>Lotte followed soon after, having come out a few minutes later with a fairly long, graphic shirt labeled with the title of “Nightfall” and some artwork of a girl, stylistically drawn in next to a clock tower, with various painted caricatures of what one would assume to be various characters of this “Nightfall.” She looked pretty embarrassed as they all stared at the shirt an equally long amount of time.</p><p>Akko took her change of clothes into the bathroom, and took a moment to take in the room before changing clothes. It was like Professor Finnelan described, a small bathroom that had enough room to hold the bare essentials and nothing more. A small shower, a vanity, a toilet, some bars for hanging towels, and a cupboard as well to hold various assortments of toiletries.</p><p>The witch, however, couldn’t help but continue to ponder the <em> whys </em>, it was still very much a mystery as to why they required their own private washroom, but it wasn’t hard to gather that it had to do with Amaya’s arrival, it had to have been. As to what that really meant, though, Akko had absolutely no idea. Something about them, though, caught them as weird from the beginning, but they still weren’t sure what that something was, and at this point, she thinks now that it doesn’t even matter anymore. Being impulsive is a curse and a blessing.</p><p>Akko let the thoughts plague her no longer as she quickly got out of her school clothes and into her casual wear, a white t-shirt and orange shorts that she usually wore back home, the perfect versatile outfit they had for any occasion, aside from fancy parties or anything, of course.</p><p>Today’s been a long day, full of firsts for sure. New friends, new school, entirely new environment. They even survived death somehow with only a few scrapes, and made it to school like nothing crazy happened at all. The thought of going to a “Witch School” must be quite intoxicating for them to have forgotten so easily their dangerous adventure in the legendary forbidden forest.</p><p>Finally stepping out of the bathroom, she walked in on a conversation the 3 other witches were having.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“...I’ve heard of Nightfall before! I haven’t read it, but I do like reading manga!” Ami told Lotte, as Sucy continued to watch intently. Not entirely enamored in the conversation at hand, but willing to be there to listen.</p><p>“It’s amazing! I’ve been reading every new novel that’s come out since I’ve first read them when I was a kid, it really hooks you!” Lotte beamed back at Ami. “Although, I can understand why someone wouldn’t be super interested in it, it’s quite long now.”</p><p>“I’ve read longer, have you ever heard of One Piece?” Ami responded, clearly very much into the conversation the two book-loving girls were in. Ami in her element looked a lot more calm, relaxed, happy.</p><p>“I’ve heard of both, neither interest me, but I’m surprised they’ve gone so long.” Sucy finally added. “Makes you wonder what the people behind them are doing every day, writing and drawing all the time, how would they find time to do anything else?”</p><p>“I-I don’t actually know… the series has been running for over 700 chapters now…” Ami pondered, as she rested her head on one hand.</p><p>“Hey, what’re you all talkin’ about?” Akko asked, walking to join Lotte on their respective side of the bunk beds. “Books and manga?”</p><p>“Mhm! Sucy asked me about my shirt so I had to explain what Nightfall was, I may have gone a bit overboard though… hee... “ Lotte responded, blushing a bit around the end.</p><p>“Then they asked what my shirt meant, and I went on a little rant of my own about manga, I spent a lot of my time reading Shōnen Jump when I was younger, it was an easy out from stuff at home.” Ami explained, patting her shirt with emphasis when she told them what it meant.</p><p>“‘Stuff at home…?’” Akko repeated with a questioning tone. “I-I don’t mean to talk about stuff like that, but what does that mean?”</p><p>Ami took a second to think up an answer.</p><p>“It’s… it’s a lot. A lot of things…” They eventually responded, looking over at the window. Night had officially arrived, the stars shining through the sky clearly, along with a few clouds still roaming around on their lonesome. Even in the “Realm of Magic” that they were all stationed in, the dusk of the night remained as beautiful as it always does.</p><p>Silence filled the room as they watched Ami intently. The raven-haired witch eventually let in a long breath, and turned back to the group.</p><p>“I don’t mean to take up much of your time with it, but I can tell you… enough of what it was like, I suppose, I owe you that much for my earlier outburst…”</p><p>“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but if you do, just take your time with it.” Lotte told them with a calm voice, and a happy expression.</p><p>“Mhm! I know we’ve only just met today, but we can always use the time to tell each other a bit more about ourselves!” Akko beamed, a happy, contagious smile once again radiating from her, causing Ami to smile.</p><p>“Th-Thanks…”</p><p>It took Ami a few moments to gather herself, looking at each witch for a second to get a feel for how they felt about this whole situation. Akko’s smile beaming bright enough to outshine the sun, Lotte’s calm smile filling her with comfort, and Sucy’s very-much uninterested stare that felt somehow calming, her just looking Ami’s way was enough to know what she was fully intent with hearing the girl out, all of their smiles were enough for her to feel comfortable to share with them their story.</p><p>“J-Just please, bare with me… I know it’ll probably end up getting to a point where it’ll sound really weird, really fast so… Just… know that you might... not look at me the… same way, after…” Ami told them, shifting a bit as she sat still, tapping one foot in place sporadically, clearly anxious.</p><p>“I don’t see why we would!” Akko told them without even a second of hesitation. “You seem pretty cool, I don’t see any reason to hate you or anything!”</p><p>“Mhm, I don’t think that I could look at you any different than you are now, although we still just met, you seem nice enough to warrant our trust.” Lotte added on after Akko, giving Ami a smile once again.</p><p>“I don’t think I can think any less of a comic-book loving nerd girl, no offense.” Sucy finished, giving them a smile as well.</p><p>“I-I don’t mean to sound rude, but you all are much too easily trusting… not that I’m complaining! It’s just different, I guess.” Ami said, once again looking over the witches faces with a look of happiness, comfort.</p><p>“We’re friends, after all! Or, I at least think so!” Akko told them, still keeping their smile wide. “That, and we kept Sucy around, and she tried to kill us earlier today!” They continued, gesturing to the lavender witch at Ami’s side with a hand.</p><p>“E-Eh…?” Ami squeaked as she looked over at Sucy, a bit afraid now.</p><p>“If it makes you feel any better, they confiscated what I got from that bird, so it’s not like I’d get away with it again if I truly wanted to go back.” Sucy told them, resting their head on one arm again. “That, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t sneak out that easily to a forbidden forest.”</p><p>“O-Okay, just give me a second, alright?” The raven-haired witch asked, fiddling with her fingers a bit. “It’s stuff I don’t mind talking about, but some of it is still a bit heavy for me to… So I’ll just keep it simple...”</p><p>“Again, just do whatever makes you comfortable, okay?” Lotte told them, her smile still staying to keep them reassured.</p><p>“I-If it’s all the same to you, I’ll just… get some stuff out of the way instead of telling you all of it right now, I just… need to get to know you all a bit more. I’d wait a bit more in general, but… considering we’re going to all be sleeping in the same room it’s… best I just get a few things out first…” Ami sighed, despite being comfortable to share, she still wished for some things to remain unsaid, at the very least for now.</p><p>The witches gave Ami the time to collect themselves before speaking up once more, as she finally stopped fidgeting in place to concentrate as much as she could.</p><p>“I’m sure it’s obvious enough, but I was born in Japan, more specifically Kitami in Hokkaido, and due to my father’s job, we eventually moved out to England. I didn’t remember much back then, but I remember always being fond of Manga, so I grew up reading it a lot. My dad already taught me both English and Japanese when I was younger too, so I didn’t really struggle shifting environments so much, but I was just thankful that they had a few places that sold manga and stuff like that, Shonen Jump was pretty popular back then.”</p><p>The group listened intently as Ami’s expressions shifted while they spoke, always remaining happy on the topic of manga, and shifting a bit when she talked about her parents, but only slight shifts that could easily be overlooked. Akko, however, didn’t overlook them, but kept her thoughts unspoken.</p><p>“To put it simply, I was just a “book nerd” like how Sucy put it, I loved reading the weekly issues and buying the different issues of ones I particularly liked. It was always a big part of me, and I’m just happy my parents didn’t really care enough about it. But… part of me growing up had some ‘issues’, is the best way I can put it…”</p><p>“What kind of issues?” Akko asked as Ami droned off a bit in thought, bringing them back to reality.</p><p>“It’s… When I was younger, even as far back as I can really remember, I always had trouble socializing with my peers. It’s not like I was anti-social, I was kind to my teachers, but, I never really bonded with a lot of the younger boys… My parents didn’t like that mostly because they just didn’t want their kid to be lonely, which is understandable I suppose, but it just wasn’t my thing, I guess…”</p><p>“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?” Akko continued, her head comically to the side to emphasize her confusion.</p><p>“I... I don’t know the best way to put this other than the fact that I just… never got along with the boys, despite, well…” Ami’s voice trailed off into a barely audible mumble as she continued that sentence, clearly embarrassed at speaking it out loud, yet truly intending to tell them the whole thing. Well, hope to before her nerves keep it from them.</p><p>“E-Eh? Ami, I didn’t hear that…” Akko pressed, being at this point the dedicated question-asker of the group.</p><p>“It’s… I don’t know if I should really continue down that path right now…” Ami trailed off once more, looking a bit distressed now, enough to be visibly noticeable among the group. “I have no idea if I should talk about it… it’s a bit… serious? Well, rather…” Continuing to trail off into who knows where, the witches around them looked at her with saddened expressions.</p><p>Lotte then spoke up. “You don’t need to continue if you don’t want to, We’ll understand.” They reassured them, trying to bring them back from the depths of whatever hole they were in currently. “I think it may even be a bit early for us to all tell our own life stories so soon, that’s something for another time.”</p><p>Akko then decided to take matters into her own hands, and quickly stood up, easily gathering everybody’s attention. “Hey, why don’t we just talk about what we like, and go from there!” She beamed, very enthusiastic for some reason. “We have some time to kill, why not know a bit about each other before going to bed?”</p><p>“Beats sitting here in silence.” Sucy responded, resting herself back a bit. “So, who goes first then?”</p><p>“Oh, I can!” Akko once again beamed, <em> very </em> enthusiastic now. “I know you all know this already, but I’m Atsuko Kagari! I came here all the way from Japan to learn all there is about being a witch, so I can be just like the great Shiny Chariot! Oh, and I also like reading manga like Ami does, and I enjoy a lot of physical activities!” The brunette beamed, and then quickly sat back down, but still keeping a wide grin on her face. “Shiny Chariot taught me to believe in myself, so I tried as hard as I could to get into Luna Nova just to follow in their steps, and here I am now! I had to travel nearly half the globe to get here, and nothing else is going to stop me!” Puffing out her chest with gusto as they talked, fire in their eyes and determination on their face in permanent ink, she looked pretty content with herself. “Alright, you’re up, Lotte!”</p><p>“M-Me next…?” Lotte quickly squeaked, but settled down a moment after. “Well… I’m Lotte Yanson, I came from a tiny town in Finland, and I wanted to be a witch so I could get a degree, which I could then use to help run my Parent’s magic store. It’s not that big of a dream… but it’s what I want to do! I spend a lot of my time on the Crystal Ball and the internet really, but I also do enjoy reading, just normal books though, like Nightfall!” The finnish witch spoke, occasionally absentmindedly curling a strand of hair. “I also do enjoy some writing from time to time, if that also counts. Oh, and I also really like talking to spirits, singing to them can be quite comforting.”</p><p>“Okay, looks like it’s your turn, Sucy!” Akko spoke up, and lightly gesturing to Sucy, who appeared to just be absentmindedly staring at the group of witches across from them.</p><p>“Okay I guess… I’m Sucy Manbaveran, and I was born in the Philippines. I was adopted at a fairly young age, but I didn’t mind it all too much, my parents cared for me and introduced me to the amazing world of Poisons, and that’s pretty much what I want to do, Potions and poison work. I don’t mind a lot of things, but I also get annoyed at a lot of things. But, reading is interesting, and so is dancing on my off time. I have a few younger sisters, but I’m the oldest. I only have just the Mom, though.” Sucy then finished it off by lightly cracking her knuckles, and tapping her fingers on her thigh. “Music is neat too, although I enjoy playing instruments more than singing. Electric or Bass guitar.”</p><p>Sucy then lightly gestured to Ami, tapping them on the arm lightly with her knuckle. “You’re up.”</p><p>“A-Ah, right…” The raven-haired witch jumped slightly, and then tried to get the group to ignore it with a light cough. “My name is Amaya Hisa, and like I said a bit before, I also grew up in Japan, but ended up moving to England. My parents before weren’t… well they were nice, but not the best. I eventually studied to become a witch because my family had ties to a few of them, and I took interest in it. And well, after a bit more things happened, here I am…” She lightly scratched the back of her neck, and started to tap one foot up and down. “I like reading manga and watching anime, and occasionally read a few normal books, although I always end up reading the wrong way…” She lightly trailed off, hearing a small giggle from Akko, and in turn laughing a bit herself. “I enjoy music a bit too, I don’t always sing but I also don’t mind singing, but I really just like to play things with keys rather than strings. Video games are pretty fun too...” The tapping slowly stopped as she pondered a bit more. “Oh, but I guess I do like singing in some cases, I actually spent a bit of time covering some songs from anime I liked… I could show you all one day!” Now sufficiently happy, the group smiled in unison.</p><p>“Okay, now what time is it exactly?” Akko asked, eying the window. It was dark out, sure, but she hadn’t set up her alarm clock yet to actually know what time it was.</p><p>Lotte reached into her pocket, and pulled out the aforementioned Crystal Ball, and lightly tapped it. A projection of sorts came out, and Lotte quickly searched the screen. “It’s currently… 9:46PM! Oh, that must mean it’s 11:46PM back home…” Lotte trailed off, but quickly jerked up, with a face of clear worry. “Crap, I forgot to call my parents that I made it here safe!”</p><p>“Just call them tomorrow, I’m sure they’ll understand.” Sucy interjected, now having sufficiently relaxed enough to lay entirely down in bed. “My Mom is probably long asleep by now, she’s probably just expecting a message in the morning over there. I think it’s like a 7 hour difference or something.” Now, lightly turning her feet to rest over the bed properly, she propped her head over the lone pillow. “We should probably get to bed at this point, setting our internal clock right can only do us good.”</p><p>“Now that you bring it up, I don’t know if I’m tired, or somehow tired enough to have gotten numb to it.” The brunette said as they fell backwards onto the bed with a soft ‘thump,’ arms sprawled out at her sides. “But, sleep could be pretty good right now… my muscles are aching…”</p><p>Lotte lightly stood up and pocketed her crystal ball, and moved over to the small ladder of the bunk. “Looks like we’re gonna be the top bunk group, huh?” She spoke with a chuckle, smiling towards Ami.</p><p>“It seems that way… I honestly wouldn’t mind being the top bunk instead of the bottom, it feels a bit safer…” She then slowly climbed her way up, and gently laid down in bed. “This bed is actually pretty comfy, I could get used to this…”</p><p>The room was then silent as they all immediately heard Ami begin to snore slightly, out like a light with no much more than a second of laying in a bed being the cause. Had Akko known any better, she’d likely see a comical snot bubble coming out of one of her nostrils.</p><p>“Out like a light, I can respect that…” Akko drawled off, only to follow suit and fall right into a deep slumber in kind. Although, not with any snoring.</p><p>“Geez, this certainly is going to be an interesting school year, let alone a few years.” Sucy cut in, her voice no lower than usual, but it was already quite low to begin with in some regards.</p><p>“I can certainly agree there.” The Finnish witch chuckled. “We’ve got tons of time to get used to the snoring, at least.”</p><p>“Oh, believe me I have my fair share of snoring in my life, this is nothing.” Sucy responded, getting herself fairly comfortable under the covers. “You get the lights, because I don’t have my wand on me.”</p><p>“Mmm, okay.”</p><p>Lotte got out her wand, having kept it in her pocket after changing clothes, and quickly swiped the air with it and mumbled a spell, causing the lights in the room to blow away.</p><p>Akko certainly had an eventful day, she mused in her slumber. ‘I met new friends- saved new friends actually- I got <em> the </em> Shiny Rod, walked around the massive school a bit… and I found out that… I like girls.’ She spoke with varying emotions. That last one was still getting to her apparently.</p><p><em> ‘I hope I don’t end up falling for my roommates… </em> kuso... <em> that would suck… </em></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The Blue Team’s dormitories were certainly a step up from what any of them had been expecting. A simple entranceway to elegantly hide the regal interior of their common area, being a lavishly blue-velvet covered room with many instances of pearly white marble, and doors with some maroon varnishing over top of platinum ornaments. A place fit for the lavish and sophisticated, but also perfectly representing of the Blue Coven’s background, and of the Nine that represented it.</p><p>Truth be told, it looked like they shoved the richest castle in the world into a tiny space for the few worthy enough to live within it. One could only imagine how difficult it was to keep it as pristine as it was, but in the world of magic, it was actually quite simple.</p><p>“Hey, Barbs, you got a second?” Hannah called out, gathering the other girl’s attention.</p><p>“Oh, yeah, sure. You go on ahead, Diana, okay?” Barbara asked them, which Diana responded with a simple but effective nod.</p><p>She watched her compatriots walk out of their common area and back into the large castle, and Diana let out a soft huff of relief that she wasn’t aware she had been holding in. <em> ‘Some time to myself, finally.’ </em></p><p>Making her way to their dorm room, she had been quite surprised at how extravagant it was, especially in comparison to the rest of the school. She had grown up in this type of lifestyle, sure, but even then it was still a bit of a surprise to see their own regal dorm room among the otherwise pretty tame castle it was situated within.</p><p>High rising walls in a simple minty color, wooden paneling matching the maroon doorway over the bottom half with white outlining over top, it had a very homey feel to it. The main room was both bedroom and living space, with what looked to be a long wooden vanity over the right side wall, that didn’t reach all the way over. Passing by a few chairs and tables- the vanity looked a lot like a bar table, upon further inspection- she came across a secluded living space, the vanity’s other side being an empty shelf for books, and a fairly modestly sized desk on the opposing wall. To top it all off, a slightly smaller, but more secluded bed in comparison to the other two in the living area.</p><p>She arrived here first, so she made a rather uncharacteristic call of ‘dibs’ on this little living space. Using a simple spell to conjure up her belongings left with the rest of the girl’s things in the commons area, she rested the twin suitcases against the empty shelving, and began to unpack.</p><p>Books now lined the shelving, along with a few trinkets from home. A small, white box lined with golden trim laid right across from her bed, along with a few books of her own personal collection over the years, and a plush bear from times long past. She had half a mind to put her favorite Alcor next to it, but she’d rather be caught dead than have her meticulously crafted image torn from underneath her feet if her roommates caught the sight of it. Tucking it back in the suitcase with a sigh of remembrance and slight sorrow, she continued to gather her clothes to put them in the dresser drawers underneath her bed.</p><p>Things sufficiently unpacked and time having passed a bit more than she cared to admit, the door to the room finally opened, and in walked Hannah and Barbara.</p><p>“Geez, this is amazing!” Hannah exclaimed, turning on the balls of her feet a bit to take in the room.</p><p>“It’s something alright, but the wallpaper is a bit of a clash.” Barbara notes, but her expression really showed otherwise, with a relieved and happy expression</p><p>Diana took her few moments of solitude left, and walked out from her own corner to greet the two.</p><p>“You both certainly were gone a while, got familiar with the school I hope?” The blonde questioned with a smile, a small handbag behind their back in their arms.</p><p>They were startled for some reason, as they completely forgot about Diana’s existence during their little outing. Barbara’s face flushed, and Hannah followed suit, but with a more playfully upset expression.</p><p>“W-We did, walked around a bit to get a lay of the land…” Hannah spoke up, looking away from Barbara and Diana.</p><p>“Alright then, if you’ll excuse me, I need to unpack my toiletries. It was quite generous for them to give us our own bathroom, was it not?” The Englishwoman mused, walking past the flustered pair and stood in front of the door positioned on the left wall close to the door. “I won’t be long, but please do start to unpack, we have plenty of time today.”</p><p>Barbara playfully chuckled, trying her best to hide the embarrassment, but didn’t really do so well. “Y-Yeah, I forgot all about that…”</p><p>Diana payed them no mind, and entered the bathroom.</p><p>The twins <em> very </em> audibly sighed from beyond the door, catching Diana off guard, but she quickly recovered herself.</p><p>The bathroom was very lavishly designed, white walls of marble and bright lights, the floor having been covered with blue velvet mats and a fairly sized vanity. A sink, even a small closet for towels and other hand rags.</p><p>The blonde set down her handbag, and quickly rifled through to take her various lotions and hair products and put them in one of the drawers of the vanity. Making a mental note to tell her roommates to take their own spots for products, she put all her things in that drawer of her own and sat the handbag on the countertop near the sink. Grabbing a toothbrush from another pocket of the bag, and a fresh bottle of accompanying paste, she began to brush her teeth.</p><p>A new school, a new set of friends at her side in the form of her roommates, a renewed fire in her eyes ready to take on any challenge, and an unyielding will to accompany it. Her wand was not unlike the blade of a warrior; the symbol of her power and the tool to carry out her resolve. Unyielding and Unbreakable, her new life had begun.</p><p>She had looming doubts over her head but quickly cast them aside. She needn’t worry, she was dead set on her goals. And she wasn’t about to let anything get in her way of them.</p><p>With an enthusiastic ‘slap’ of her hand on the countertop, she psyched herself up for all the challenges the world dared throw her way now. With a precise and fluid motion she yanked the brush out of her mouth and set it under the waterfall of cold droplets that came from the faucet, and spat out the minty coagulant mass in her mouth. Taking her hand into the bag and pulling out a personal hand towel, she wiped off her face and let herself stare into her own eyes.</p><p>Eyes of blue flame stared back.</p><p>Not wasting a moment more, she put her things back in her bag, left it there for the next morning, and walked out of the room.</p><p>Diana walked in on a rather interesting sight. Hannah and Barbara sitting awfully close to each other on one bed over the side, and the other two quickly took notice of the aristocrat that just entered the room.</p><p>Had Diana known any better, she could’ve sworn she saw the two holding hands not a moment ago, but she quickly took it as just a trick of the eye instead, and watched in a bit of confusion as the two other witches once again flushed a crimson red in the face.</p><p>“Are you both well?” The blonde asked, walking forward to sit in a chair. “You both look awfully red, do either of you have a fever?”</p><p>“N-No, it’s fine- we’re fine! We promise!!” Barbara quickly spat out, shaking her hands furiously in front of them while Hannah looked away with a face of clear embarrassed frustration.</p><p>“Hmm. If you are sure, then I won’t pry any further. But, you know you’re in good hands if you're with a Cavendish, I can easily work out whatever illness you may have and work on a remedy.” Diana responded, a face of clear concern for their well being.</p><p>“We’re fine, we promise!!” Barbara continued, trying her best to work down the flush in her face but failing horribly. So, she opted to switch the topic. “H-Hey, this room is quite nice isn’t it?” She asked with a shaky smile.</p><p>“Ah, I can agree. I took the liberty of taking the secluded space behind the…” She turned her head over her shoulder to stare at the long mirror over the wooden seating area. “...I will call it a shelf. I took the liberty of taking the secluded space behind the shelf.”</p><p>“Yeah, we saw that when we realized there was stuff behind there.” Hannah spoke up, still slightly flushed but brought down enough to reality to speak.</p><p>“You’re lucky we don’t mind!” Barbara shot out of the blue, which incited another wave of blush over Hannah, and she quickly covered the dark haired witch’s mouth before she blurted out anything else.</p><p>“I… suppose that’s good?” Diana responded with pure confusion, staring quizzically at the other two, but quickly shook her head of any thoughts. “If you don’t mind my asking, do either of you have the time?”</p><p>Diana could’ve easily told the time judging by the moon’s position, but she couldn’t quite gauge where the moon was by just looking outside from the angle she was in, and it’s not like she’d so rudely get up in the middle of their conversation.</p><p>Hannah checked the watch she honestly forgot was on her wrist up until now, and gave it a quick and stern look, like she’s directing some form of emotion towards the face of the clock. “It’s… 9:46PM, pretty much an hour after curfew.”</p><p>“Then I suppose it’s time for me to return to bed.” The blonde spoke, now standing up to mark the end of the conversation. “I do hope you two sleep well, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow unpacking and getting everything ready for the coming days.”</p><p>The other two witches then watched Diana retreat to her own private area in the room, and both let out quiet sighs as they watched her set up a Sound-Canceling spell over their side of the room.</p><p>Hannah wasted no time in grabbing Barbara’s hand once again.</p><p>“Hey, it’s been a long day, hasn’t it Barbs?” She asked, a smile on her face now that all worry was gone.</p><p>“Yeah, you can certainly say that again.” Barbara responded, falling back on the bed and took Hannah with her- which she reciprocated with a giggle.</p><p>“You alright? You seem like you just rode a broom for the first time.” The auburn haired girl giggled out, lightly rubbing the knuckles of the witch holding her hand.</p><p>“I feel like it… I don’t know why today was so tiring.” They responded, letting out another sigh of relief. “Honestly, I really don’t know why I’m so… tired…”</p><p>And just like that- out like a light.</p><p><em> ‘Honestly, what is it with lesbians and falling right into sleep with so little effort at all?’ </em> Hannah mused with a chuckle at her sleeping love on the bed, in a very much not comfortable position.</p><p>She took it upon herself to at least situate them properly, and lightly planted a kiss to her temple between curled back dark hair. “Rest up, then. We gotta unpack a lot of stuff tomorrow.”</p><p>So, Hannah followed suit (although taking the time to shift into sleepwear instead of opting to conk out on the bed in her uniform.) And took the bed next to Barbara’s, against her internal wishes of sharing the same bed.</p><p>Today was long for some, shorter for others, but eternally as lasting for few.</p><p> </p><p>Fates intertwined. Lives crossed paths. Love and Life move on.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>At this point, I may need to start making shorter chapters, this was a nearly 13k update!!</p><p>I hope you all don't mind the occasional beefy update, but I think for better pacing reasons and to just get some more stuff to you all, I may end up cutting down on the word count Just A Tad to make it a bit more manageable to read!</p><p>Apologies if it feels all over the place- If I need to, I'll update it to make it better, but I do hope you enjoyed it!</p><p>The story moves on, and the next chapter awaits!</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Friends! Enter; The Green Coven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Amaya has a long day ahead of her, and she ends up meeting a lot of new people along the way. But, is this good luck, or bad luck in the long run?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
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<p>Light shines through the slightly dusty windows of the massive castle that was their school.</p>
<p>Honestly, the whole of yesterday seemed like a dream to Atsuko Kagari, who wouldn’t dream of nearly dying by a giant chicken in the middle of a legendary forest? </p>
<p>And yet now here she was, finally in the school of her dreams to put the rest of her plans into action. Officially enrolled, officially accounted for… now all that was left was to get officially settled in, and officially recognized as a splendid witch.</p>
<p>Scratching her eyes slightly, Akko raised herself up and out of bed after what felt like the best sleep she’s ever had in a long while.</p>
<p>By the looks of it, everybody else was awake apart from Amaya, who’s light snores still sounded through the room. Lotte was already rummaging through various bags to get her things out, and Sucy was pretty much already unpacked with her things neatly set on the little outcropping on the wall acting as a shelf for her… Mushroom collection?</p>
<p>“Oh, Good morning, Akko!” Lotte called out with a smile, now realizing that she was awake.</p>
<p>“Hey… what time is it?” The brunette sheepishly asked, still trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes.</p>
<p>“It’s 6 in the morning.” Sucy responded, drawing Akko’s attention to the lavender haired witch messing around with a few books. “Today’s our day to get settled and get all our books for our classes, so we have a fairly long day ahead of us.”</p>
<p>“Ah…”</p>
<p>Akko just groaned and rested herself back in bed, clearly already exhausted at the prospect of traveling around all day.</p>
<p>Lotte just giggled and Sucy rolled her eyes at this, and both continued to do their own things instead of pay more mind to the brunette.</p>
<p>The room was honestly quite somber and relaxing, the soft snores of the still asleep japanese girl making for very good background noise, and the almost library-like scent that filled the room from all the various moving of books old and new, and the slight creaks of the floorboards as each girl began to move around the room at their own pace.</p>
<p>Akko finally managed to unpack her things, and hooked up her alarm clock pretty easily. She took out a few thumbtacks from her bag, and hung up her favorite decoration; a poster of Shiny Chariot, from the very show she first experienced in person as a kid, “Shiny Chariot’s Magical Festa.”</p>
<p>Staring proudly at the poster, she once again felt taken right back to that very day. The very reason she chose to become a witch- become a performer after. To bring smiles to everybody’s faces, and to encourage young girls around the globe to experience the world of magic like she had.</p>
<p>She, however, didn’t notice that Lotte and Sucy were standing right behind her, staring at the very same poster.</p>
<p>“You really do like this “Shiny Chariot,” don’t you?” Sucy asked, staring at the poster with her usual emotionless expression.</p>
<p>Akko jumped back with a small “Eep!” In surprise, but quickly mellowed down and adopted a more happy expression. “Yeah, she’s practically my greatest inspiration! Other than my Mom and Dad of course!” She beamed, clearly excited to once again spill her guts about Shiny Chariot. “She taught me that a believing heart is my magic, and I’m going to take that all the way with me until I can be just as great as her!”</p>
<p>Sucy just stared back, while Lotte walked a bit closer to the poster. “So, that’s your goal, then? To become a magic performer…?”</p>
<p>“Mhm!” The brunette responded with a grin that could outshine any star. “I wanna bring magic across the world and show people just how beautiful and amazing it can be!”</p>
<p>The lavender haired witch just looked between the poster and Akko, and walked back to her side of the room.</p>
<p>“I can already tell this is going to be a regular thing with you.” She deadpanned, now grabbing hold of a comically Mushroom shaped backpack from her suitcase. “We’ve gotta pick up our uniforms, text books for our classes, and anything else we could need from the town.”</p>
<p>Lotte hummed in agreement and began to gather her daily wear, and Akko only stood there stunned.</p>
<p>“Books…? Uniforms?” The brunette parroted, clearly a bit confused.</p>
<p>The Finnish witch looked up to Akko with a slight smile. “Oh, we need to get our school daily wear. They gave us our formal wear yesterday, and I think they just needed the extra day to get the normal wear ready.” She explained, having picked up a proper outfit to wear. “Can one of you check on Ami? She’s still asleep.”</p>
<p>The two let Lotte go to the small bathroom to change, and Sucy took it upon herself to check on the still sleeping other japanese witch. Climbing the ladder of the bunk bed, she stood there for a few seconds and turned to Akko with a slightly disgusted face.</p>
<p>“Do you have a large snot bubble when you sleep too?” She asked, clearly both disturbed and intrigued.</p>
<p>“Wait, are you serious? Let me see!” Akko quickly asked, dashing her way to the ladder and climbed up it herself, despite Sucy still being on it.</p>
<p>Sure enough, the raven-haired witch had a comically expanding and retracting snot bubble coming out of their nose, with their mouth opening in rhythm to their light snoring. Her expression otherwise was quite somber and relaxed.</p>
<p>“I got just the thing for this!” The brunette practically squealed with joy, and quickly jumped off the ladder to rummage around in her case. Despite the noise, Amaya still slept soundly like nothing at all had happened around her.</p>
<p>Sucy took the chance to climb down, and stood in the middle of the room looking back at each japanese witch, clearly unsure as to what kind of ritual Akko was about to perform. However, it didn’t take long for them to connect the dots, as the brunette finally managed to find a pin in her belongings, and Sucy quickly adopted a more devilish grin.</p>
<p>With quick feet, Akko dashed back up the ladder, and slowly put out the pin. Making sure to not accidentally lunge forward, she moved her hand forward, and the pin penetrated the bubble, causing it to immediately pop with a sound not unlike a balloon, and Ami quickly jerked awake, one eye open.</p>
<p>“E-Eh? <em> N-Nani </em>…?” The raven-haired witch spoke, clearly still unsure about what just happened.</p>
<p>“Hey, we got lots to do today, y’know?” Akko beamed at them, patting their leg a bit to jerk them further awake. “Apparently we got books and uniforms to pick up!”</p>
<p>“O-Oh, I forgot…” Ami chuckled sheepishly, and slowly urged herself up. “The school gave me some stuff for the ceremony, but I was kind of a bit late for it, so I need to pick up my proper outfit today…” She elaborated, trying her best to recount yesterday through half-lidden sleepy eyes. “That means I need to get two outfits today and books… and unpack…”</p>
<p>Akko chuckled as Ami let out a loud groan of defeat, and slowly shifted her way down the bed. During which time Lotte exited the bathroom, now wearing a much more presentable outfit of a light blue collared dress with a belt around the waist, and light tan flip flops.</p>
<p>The brunette jumped down and waltzed her way back to her own bed, sitting down on the edge. “So other than unpacking and picking up our clothes, what else do we need to do exactly?”</p>
<p>Lotte took a moment before answering, clearly deep in thought. “I think other than that… it’s basically a free day? Although, I think I might be forgetting something…”</p>
<p>Sucy interjected by continuing after the Finnish witch’s statement. “We have today to sign up for clubs or anything as well before school officially starts, there should be a little hall somewhere for it.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I thought I was forgetting something.” The orange haired witch sighed with relief. “Thanks, Sucy!”</p>
<p>“Mmm.” Was all the Fillipino witch responded with, having turned her attention instead to a now assembled outfit to wear. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking the bathroom next.”</p>
<p>The group watched as Sucy walked into the bathroom, and out in the room sounded an audible ‘<em> Click!’ </em>As the bathroom door was shut and locked.</p>
<p>“Hey, does anybody still have that map…?” Ami asked as she slowly climbed down the ladder of the bunk bed. “I really don’t know my way around all too well…”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I still got it.” Lotte responded, quickly digging in a drawer to take out the map. “I think we should be good to go about our day today.”</p>
<p>“Ah, I need to return those loner robes I got…” The raven-haired witch thought aloud as she pulled the uniform out in a crumpled mess from her suitcase.</p>
<p>A calm silence filled the room after as the witches got ready for their day. Soft shuffling and ruffling of papers and bags as they each managed to ready their backpacks of paperwork for specifications for their uniforms (“What do you mean I needed to do that?!” Akko shouted out.) With a bit of hassle, they managed to get themselves all situated and ready to get everything they needed for school. Akko elected to wear a simple graphic hoodie that had a large red bar across the middle, with the words “MARVEL” printed upon it, simple jean shorts, and a pair of black Nike shoes. Sucy decided to wear a cream colored Polo shirt with loose fitting jeans, and simple slip-on shoes. The group filed out of the smaller room, and into the commons area, climbing down the twisting stairs, and stopped when Ami spoke up.</p>
<p>She told them she needed to do her own things for the day and likely wouldn’t see them until much later in the day, all the while sounds of shuffling sounded out from their casual red sundress underneath a fairly bulky buttoned up, white and red outlining teamless varsity jacket, and squeaks of simple checkered Vans on the floor.</p>
<p>With a bit of embarrassment on their cheeks and shuffling feet, they stared mostly at the ground instead of at their friend’s faces. “I-It’s not that I don’t want to hang out with you guys today! I just need to handle some of my own things and I need to go to a few other places… I don’t want to waste you guys’ time by having you go out of your way!”</p>
<p>“Nah, it’s alright!” Akko patted them on the back. “I don’t know where you gotta go to, but we’ll just meet back up at our dorm room later, alright?”</p>
<p>“O-Okay! See you then…”</p>
<p>The group watched Ami shuffle a bit then turn her back to the group, and began to walk… deeper into the Red Coven’s area. Akko had half a mind to shout out ‘where are you going?’ But quickly found out as they watched her enter one of the professor’s offices.</p>
<p>“She must have some business to settle with one of the teachers.” Sucy said aloud, and then snapped her fingers. “We gotta get going, getting there earlier means less line hell.”</p>
<p>“Right, where are we going to first exactly?” Akko asked, and followed along as the three began to walk.</p>
<p>The orange-haired witch adjusted her glasses a bit and took out a list from a handbag they decided to bring with them.</p>
<p>“We need to stop by… I guess the school’s tailor? It says here that we need to go to the “Tailory.”</p>
<p>Sucy had been given the map to help them navigate, much to Akko’s chagrin. “Yeah, I see that on here.”</p>
<p>“Okay!” Akko then suddenly sounded out, with a small ‘<em> Yosh! </em>’ Among a few rases of fists in the air. “Let’s get all of this boring stuff done and out of the way as quickly as we can!”</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Amaya had a lot to thank for getting to where she was today. Whether she chooses to admit it outwards towards others, or even to herself at times, her parents at least had some part in her life and drove her to be who she was today. She had her few witch relatives to thank as well for showing her the gift of magic during get-togethers, and most of all she had to thank her… New parents? Was that still weird to say?</p>
<p>She gave a light but rhythmic knock on the door to signify to the professor on the other side who she was, and after a fairly loud ‘Come in’ from the other side, she opened the wooden and slightly creaky door.</p>
<p>“H-Hey, <em> Okaasan </em>…”</p>
<p>“Ah, it must be that time already then, hm?”</p>
<p>Amaya didn’t at all mind the outwardly stern and usually loud person that was Anne Finnelan. She had this aura of superiority around her, but that mostly gave the raven-haired girl a feeling of protection rather than a feeling of intimidation. Should she not be closely related to this person however, that would be a different story, because even Amaya had to admit that they were just a bit too sternly.</p>
<p>“Y-Yeah, sorry If I’m late… o-or anything.” The younger witch spoke with a bit of stuttering, still clearly a bit worried.</p>
<p>“There’s nothing you need to worry about, dearest,” Anne started, now getting up out of their honestly too big desk chair and walked over to the girl, lightly rubbing her hand through her inkey black locks. “You seem perfectly fine, so I take it all went well.”</p>
<p>“I-I… I tried to tell them but… I just couldn’t… g-get it out…” Amaya started, but eventually ended up tearing up, and lightly sniffling during a few shaky breaths.</p>
<p>Anne lightly got on one knee, and continued to rub her hand through the other girl’s hair. </p>
<p>“Hey, there’s no need to get upset, okay?” They lightly called out to them, taking their other hand to wipe away their tears with a motherly thumb movement. “I know how worried you are of it all, but that’s a part of life. When you’re scared…”</p>
<p>“T-That’s all the more reason to push forward…” Amaya finished, calming down slightly.</p>
<p>“Right, just as Kittan told you, hm?” The professor smiled at them, still lightly thumbing away the rest of the stray tears. </p>
<p>“R-Right, just like <em> Otoosan </em> told me…” They answered back, slightly smiling.</p>
<p>“Now then, let’s get you out there quick after this, hm? The lines are always long for clubs the later it is in the day.” Anne said while getting back on both feet, and pulling out a small book from her sash that Amaya hadn’t noticed until now. “I forgot to give you this yesterday, but it’s just a simple diary. You don’t have to write in it, but you could use this to write about your everyday life here if you want to remember it, that’s what I did.” </p>
<p>Anne handed the book to the girl, with which she accepted and promptly opened, and began lightly thumbing through the pages. All empty with slightly faded lines, until she ended upon the last page, where a small message was written out on a different piece of paper, along with a photo.</p>
<p>‘Hey, Kid.</p>
<p>You know I haven’t always been the best with these sorts of things, so I hope you don’t mind how weird this probably sounds.</p>
<p>I know you probably hate me a bit for not bein’ able to see you off, but I had a small emergency to take care of back home with the family, so I had to get goin’ fast to handle that.</p>
<p>But I also know that you probably understand, so I’m going to pray to whatever god is listenin’ that you aren’t going to give me the cold shoulder when I see you soon. I’m always a phone call away, so don’t be afraid to ring me up. You know the score.</p>
<p>One of my sisters was getting married and apparently the date was pushed… earlier? So I had to get there or else I’m pretty sure my ass would’ve been kicked to the stars and back, so as much as I hate not being there for you, I can’t be in two continents at once. Well, maybe I could, I got that fancy crystal ball thing your Mom got you so you could… call me on that? Is that how it works?</p>
<p>Whatever, you know what to do, and your Mom does too. Love ya lots, kiddo.</p><ul>
<li>Your King, Kittan’</li>
</ul>
<p>Amaya kept the note in its place, and lightly removed the photo that was taped by one segment to the inside back of the book.</p>
<p>Of her family. </p>
<p>Rather, of her <em> new </em> family.</p>
<p><br/>

</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Anne lightly patted them on the shoulder. “As much as I wish I could take the credit, your father really wanted you to have that journal so you could recount all your stories here to him. That tenacious man really can’t go a day without you in his life, you know.”</p>
<p>“T-This… photo…”</p>
<p>The older witch hunched over a bit to look at the photo left in the diary. “Yes, the day you were officially part of our lives. I wanted to get a copy printed out for you so you can have it with you… or get a frame for it…”</p>
<p>Amaya felt a fresh surge of tears well up and fall out before she could really force herself to stop them. “Th-Thank you… <em> O-Okaasan… </em>”</p>
<p>Anne knelt down and pulled Amaya into a hug, which the younger witch generously reciprocated. “Think nothing of it, dearest. Honestly, if I had known you’d love it so much, I would’ve gotten that photo framed for you.”</p>
<p>“I-It’s okay… I can… frame it myself…” Amaya responded with a few small sobs in between, and tightened her hold on her mother.</p>
<p>“Oh, apologies but I forgot one more thing…”</p>
<p>Anne pat Amaya on the back and let them release the embrace themselves. Staying only a moment longer the younger witch finally let go, and watched as Anne proceeded to return to her desk, and open a drawer. After a second of rummaging around, she eventually pulled out an intricate piece of red velvet ribboning.</p>
<p>“You forgot this back at home, so I made sure I picked it up for you.”</p>
<p>Amaya recognized it immediately, and quickly dashed forward to the desk. “I-I thought I lost it, thank you so much, <em> Okaasan! </em>”</p>
<p>The older witch smiled and lightly placed the ribboning on the table, Amaya quickly taking it in her arms and holding it close to her heart.</p>
<p>With a click of her heel on the floor, Anne gathered their attention. “Now, how about we finally get to what you came here for, hm?”</p>
<p>“R-Right!”</p>
<p>Anne gave them a smile, and once again opened a cabinet on the desk, and pulled out a velvet bag. “Your uniforms, all perfectly tailored and ready for use.”</p>
<p>Suppressing a light squeal of joy, Amaya quickly snatched the bag out of Anne’s hands and hugged it tightly, but quickly realized what she had done, and uttered a small “I’m sorry…” in response, to which the older witch only chuckled.</p>
<p>“Now, if I may ask, can you put on the normal student wear? There was something I wished to try out with your ribbon.”</p>
<p>Amaya nodded, and opened up the velvet parcel in her arms, and took out what looked to be folded up robes and hat, and lightly placed it on the table, and proceeded to get out the propper school wear. Before she could get the chance to ask, Anne already had gotten out her wand and cast a levitation spell over a fairly thick blanket, to which Amaya stood behind and quickly changed into the school’s official garb.</p>
<p>Now walking back out from behind the floating blanket, she lightly tugged at the collar. “Isn’t it missing something…?”</p>
<p>Walking to the younger witch with her ribbon in tow, Anne knelt forward and quickly tied the ribbon underneath the collar, leaving what would be a dark blue broach in its place; a crimson ribbon. </p>
<p>“Perfect, a nice little personal touch.” </p>
<p>The raven-haired witch was somehow stunned to silence by this one simple gesture. All she did was tie her ribbon around her neck, and it somehow meant a lot more than she could really ever express. One of the things she cherished most, held close to her heart in the least obvious way possible, and done so by one of the people she cherished most as well. If she hadn’t cried twice already, she would’ve done it a third time. ‘I seriously need to work on that…’</p>
<p>Opting to go with the route with less tears to shed, she pulled Anne in yet another embrace, albeit this time nothing more than a quick hug. “Okay, I’m all ready to go!”</p>
<p>“Good, because you still need to sign up for clubs if you wish, and unpack.”</p>
<p>Freezing on the spot, she completely forgot about the fact that there was more to today then living her lifelong dream.</p>
<p>“A-Ah… I forgot…”</p>
<p>Anne chuckled, and patted her on the head. “Well, looks like you’d best get going then, you’re lucky you don’t have to sit in the uniform line.”</p>
<p>“Right… thank you very much, <em> Okaasan. </em> I’ll make sure to write in the diary too!”</p>
<p>“You better, because then you won’t have plenty of stories for Kittan, now would you?”</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Confidence was not a feeling that Amaya felt a lot, she is sad to admit. Doubt was simply second nature for the longest of times before she came to know her new parents. But, this feeling she now had was vastly different in comparison. She was still worried, sure, but she had no idea what just a simple wardrobe change would do to them. It was not a feeling they could just easily describe, these clothes felt <em> different </em>in a way that let them giddy.</p>
<p>It was a uniform for a girls only school, after all, how could she not be giddy?</p>
<p>She felt slightly embarrassed at needing an extra map and quickly returning to her <em> Okaasan’s </em>office to receive one, but she definitely lucked out in that she had plenty extra, and was more than happy to give them one.</p>
<p>Now off she went to what she was told was the “General Hall,” which is just a large multi-purpose space in the school that could be used for anything. And as of right now, it was used for beginning-of-school club registrations. Perfect for new students to experience more of what the school had to offer other than just the standard magic-school fair… which was honestly a quite strange sentence now that she thought about it.</p>
<p>“Why are these halls so… big.” She spoke up to nobody in particular. While there were few people in the halls, she was hoping she didn’t end up catching anybody in particular’s attention.</p>
<p>Well, while she was lucky today, she wasn’t sure if this would classify as good or bad luck.</p>
<p>“I dunno, it’s a hella old building, so I imagine it was just a thing people liked in the past.” A carefree, american voice to their side spoke to them.</p>
<p>Amaya quickly jumped outward to her side with an audible “EEP!” And ended up tripping over herself, and landing quite hard on her haunches, startling both herself and the girl who attempted to talk to them.</p>
<p>“G-Geez! Chill out a bit, will ya?” The american(?) girl spoke, before lightly dashing her way towards Amaya, and quickly helping them up with only one arm without a second thought. “You looked a bit reserved, but I didn’t think I’d scare you to death!”</p>
<p>It took a few seconds for Amaya to properly recover, as she was down on the ground and up on her feet in less than a second it felt like. She at least, however, was able to make out this random stranger who just so happened to overhear her external self monologue.</p>
<p>Crimson locks adorned their hair and sprouted outward like flames, having mixed oranges within in somehow intricate swirls. Her eyes a stark contrasting emerald green, and judging by the matching crimson brows, that was their natural hair color. She looked extremely carefree, yet concerned when need be- especially when she felt selfless enough to help up a random stranger. They were already adorned in casual school wear, but Amaya could notice the emerald green sash upon their hip in contrast to her own Red. </p>
<p>“...You gonna keep staring at me?” The other girl responded with a small chuckle.</p>
<p>Amaya felt an immediate blush overtake herself, and quickly started spouting apologies towards the girl.</p>
<p>“I-I’m so sorry!! I didn’t mean to inconvenience you or worry you or to stare or-“</p>
<p>“H-Hey, slow down, man! Geez, it’s fine!” The girl spoke up, laughing slightly still and patting Amaya on the shoulder to get her to go back down to earth. “But hey, you good?”</p>
<p>“I-I’m fine… sorry…” The raven haired girl responded sheepishly, now opting to look at a very tantalizing segment of the floor.</p>
<p>The other girl patted them on the shoulder again. “Alright then! Hey, I know this is probably pretty sudden, but what’s your name? I saw you walking around and you caught my eye, so I was going to talk to you until… you talked first.”</p>
<p>The japanese witch was very surprised at the sudden outward attempts of friendship by this complete stranger, but at the very least to them it seems like they have no bad intentions, despite being very much too quiet for their own good.</p>
<p>After a second of internal conflict, she finally responded. “I-I’m Amaya… Amaya Hisa…”</p>
<p>“Amaya, eh? Damn, that’s awfully close to my name, so it looks like we’re gonna have some problems!” The other witch chuckled, trying her best to keep it to a minimum. “The name’s Amanda O'Neill, nice to meetcha!” </p>
<p>Amanda then held out her hand, and after a second. Amaya took it and was immediately shaken up and down by the most powerful handshake she had ever experienced.</p>
<p>“By the way, I gotta ask, where’d you get the ribbon?”</p>
<p>She wished, well, <em> hoped </em>that she didn’t just visually tense up at that question, but sadly she could feel herself tense up, so she wished to the wrong star.</p>
<p>“W-Well… it’s…” Amaya held the ribbon close by placing her hands over it, avoiding the now questioning stare she’s getting from the red-haired girl. “It’s… a gift, from someone close.”</p>
<p>Amanda responded with a knowing nod. “Ah, alright. Looks a lot nicer than this blue tie thing they give us instead.</p>
<p>The raven haired witch let out a sigh, and felt the tense feeling ease away.</p>
<p>“Oh shit, I totally forgot!” Amanda suddenly exclaimed, startling Amaya slightly. “I was going to ask if you wanted to be friends or something. You seemed pretty lonely and could use a little fun.”</p>
<p>Now, Amaya hadn’t gotten a lot of friends. It was simply just in her to really avoid people, avoid friends out of fear of them figuring out things she wished to keep to herself.</p>
<p>That, however, was back then.</p>
<p>That was when she truly had nobody.</p>
<p>Now, that’s a different story.</p>
<p>“S-Sure… I wouldn’t mind that.” She sheepishly replies, finally looking back into the other girl’s emerald eyes. They looked back with a toothy grin, and raised their hand to wrap around her shoulders. Now trapped in a fairly close side-embrace, Amanda held out her fist with her free hand, and kept it right in front of Amaya.</p>
<p>“Alrighty then, looks like you gots yourself a kickass new friend!”</p>
<p>Amaya realized what gesture she was attempting to get her to reciprocate, and she held up her own fist to pound Amanda’s. “Y-Yeah, I guess I do.”</p>
<p>The red haired girl gave them another toothy grin, and let them go. “Alright, I gotta bounce, but the Green Coven’s area is like, right next to the Red’s, you can’t miss it. Room 106, remember it!”</p>
<p>Amaya couldn’t really respond because she started to sprint away around the end of the sentence, likely to the previously mentioned Green Coven’s area. </p>
<p>“Room 106… Green Coven…” She thought out loud, and gently smiled after recounting what just happened.</p>
<p>She made a new friend, one that’s close by as well. Actually, she’s made 4 new friends already! ‘I’m on a roll!’ She thought to herself, proud of what she’s done today so far.</p>
<p>For only a moment longer she stood there, and then began to make her way to the clubs area again. Once more glancing down at the map, she realized she had been slipped a piece of paper.</p>
<p>‘Keep in touch!’</p>
<p>A ripped up piece of notebook paper with a phone number written on it, she quickly connected the dots as she realized she was just given another girl's number. Likely Amanda’s own. </p>
<p>She so far has made 4 friends, and got another girl’s number. She couldn’t hold back a slight blush as she continued down the hall.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The General Hall, a tall and lengthy room that had become the home of many different booths and tables set up with stands, various images conjured with some form of what Amaya imagined as projection magic, and many flashy signs that competed for attention. That attention </p>
<p>Now, Amaya has to be honest here, she wasn’t one for groups or clubs all too much, but it also wouldn’t hurt to at least check them all out. She had known the outcome, she likely wouldn’t find anything interesting, or if she did, she would let her nerves get the better of them.</p>
<p>But, today was a good day, an especially lucky one. So, she decided to feed the hot hand.</p>
<p>She decided to at the very least get a good look at the stalls they had to offer, because she could find some things she enjoyed and maybe even more, it is a witch school, who knows what could be here?</p>
<p>Waltzing through the hall and trying not to bump into anybody, she looked from stall to stall  trying to find anything that catches her own particular eye. </p>
<p>The school had a variety of clubs, there was Creative Writing, Artwork, Music was one she was particularly interested in. The Paper, Dueling was a strange one…</p>
<p>“Hm…?”</p>
<p>Amaya stopped when she noticed one particular person. Tucked away near the corner of the room, doing nothing more than sitting at a tiny table with a cardboard sign propped in front. A very tiny girl sitting in a chair, messing with machinery, what looked to be a Nintendo 64. Large goggles were perched on her head as she kept to herself, messing around with various tools that she worked around the machinery with expert precision, large leather mitts to guard their hands.</p>
<p>Their sign said; “Assistant Internship,” which was strange, but… She was able to recognize a familiar color.</p>
<p>Their sash shone with a brilliant emerald green, another member of the Green Coven. </p>
<p>Normally, she would’ve just outright ignored the person. She didn’t ever mean anything ill by it, but in this particular case, she had to be honest with herself and say that she was interested in the Green Coven. Biting the bullet, she began to walk over.</p>
<p>The smaller girl didn’t notice at first, until she eventually caught the approaching girl at the corner of her eye, and moved to rest her goggles on her temple. Amaya chanced a smile and a small wave, which the smaller girl nodded to.</p>
<p>Now standing in front of the small desk, Amaya leaned forward a bit to talk to the smaller girl. “E-Excuse me, but what is this club for?” The raven-haired girl asked, looking down at both the complex machinery and the girl working on it.</p>
<p>All the smaller girl did in response was reach down on one side, and picked up what looked to be a few sheets of paper, stapled together to form a booklet. She handed the booklet to Amaya, with which she could only accept.</p>
<p>“A-Ah… okay…”</p>
<p>She lightly held the booklet in her hands. The cover itself reading; “Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank Albrechtsberger: The Short Biography,” it was no more than 4 pages long, and appeared to be typed and printed out, with photos and even some visual aids. Turning open the page, she quickly read through the booklet with a practiced “speed-reading” style. The images were interesting at points, with a clearly young girl working on things like engines, but she was able to find out as much as she needed to know fairly quickly.</p>
<p>The girl was named Constanze, with an absurdly long last name but she shouldn’t judge. She was a German witch who had an affinity with electronics and mixing it with magic, and also apparently mute, which resulted in her needing to develop her own robot to speak for her if needed. She could make noise, but forming words was not possible. Near the back she referenced some other acquaintances she knew, and Amaya was quickly able to recognize the name “Amanda O'Neill.”</p>
<p>“Okay… so you’re Constanze… it’s nice to meet you!”</p>
<p>Amaya held out her hand to offer a shake, which Constanze accepted by using both gloved hands. Their expression didn’t shift beyond that of ‘no-emotion-yet-disinterested,’ but she could feel at least some form of emotion in their shake. Constanze motioned for the booklet, which Amaya handed back, and was quickly given a heftier book, once again consisting of only printed paper, but it looked somehow slightly singed in one corner. She looked at the book quizzically for a second, until she read the title.  This time, it read “CONZ Workshop Handbook,” and consisted of many different drawn figures of what looked to be an advanced laboratory instead of what was labeled as a workshop. It also appeared that instead of being given images, all that was in the handbook were various blueprints and sketches done by hand. It appeared as though what the club was offering…</p>
<p>“A-Are you asking me to help you build a laboratory?!” Amaya asked with a fairly prominent bit of shock and confusion. It didn't help that all Constanze did was nod like it was the most normal thing on earth.</p>
<p>At this point Amaya would’ve just refused the offer, but curiosity was put ahead of rational thinking.</p>
<p>“W-Will other people be helping…?” She asked, having now adopted a shaky smile.</p>
<p>Constanze thankfully nodded, and took out a clipboard of what looked to be a name sign up. It held her own name, a name that Amaya didn’t recognize, being “Jasminka Antonenko,” and the only other name on the list being, once again, “Amanda O'Neill.” </p>
<p>At this point she felt like Amanda was going to be everywhere, which judging by their personality didn’t entirely seem like a bad thing. It’s an excuse to hang out with her new friend more and to interact with what looked to be a friend of hers as well. While the concept of helping build a secret laboratory seemed a bit… suspect, she could only imagine it was fine if the school allowed Constanze to be here among the others in the hall in the first place.</p>
<p>Fully committing to the idea, she signed her name down on the clipboard.</p>
<p>“I-I guess it'll be a pleasure working with you, Constanze?” She asked with a nervous chuckle, trying to keep her own spirits high. Because out of all things today, one thing she didn’t expect was she’d be signing up to work on building an entire laboratory slash workshop. </p>
<p>The other girl just stared back wide-eyed. She looked down at the sheet, and up at Amaya intermittently like she was unable to comprehend what just happened. Whatever it was that she just agreed to, clearly surprised the girl heavily.</p>
<p>Amaya could only stand there and watch as Constanze quickly thumbed around her various belongings strewn on the floor around her to get a scrap piece of paper, and just as quickly pulled out a mechanical pencil, quickly writing down something. Not even a second later, she turned the page in Amaya’s direction, revealing it was not only an… email address, it was also what looked like her own personal number. </p>
<p>“A-Ah… thank you?” Was all she could even respond, because at this point she swears she had to be having the biggest good luck streak she’s ever had in a long while. Making friends shouldn’t be considered lucky to someone, but she couldn’t help but see it as a severe stroke of fate in her direction.</p>
<p>The shorter girl quickly stood up, and slapped the top back onto the machinery on the table, it somehow quickly morphing into a tiny functioning robot. The raven-haired girl just watched as Constanze and the robot quickly began picking everything up around them, and shoving it into a now noticeable large duffle bag. Folders were neatly put back together and various other hunks of metal and machinery she couldn’t comprehend fit perfectly back inside of the duffle bag, and the smaller girl quickly nodded to Amaya, and promptly put out one hand as if requesting something.</p>
<p>“E-Eh? I-I’m sorry but I don’t follow…” She responded, unsure as to what was even going on.</p>
<p>Constanze tapped the piece of paper that was still on the table, specifically her phone number, and Amaya connected the dots.</p>
<p>“Y-You need my phone? I-I don’t see why not…”</p>
<p>She put her hands in her pockets and eventually found her phone, her own personal device being a gift given to her by her father, Kittan. It’s case metal and had an interesting design of some eyes in the middle, and a spikey smile. She didn’t understand it if she was being honest, but it perfectly reflected him, so she didn’t complain. </p>
<p>The German witch took the phone quickly and unlocked it (Amaya never set up a password, much to Anne’s chagrin.) She promptly began tapping away at the device, and after a few moments handed it back to Amaya. It looked as though she just put her number in the device, and favorited it as well. Before she could thank them, though, she noticed Constanze had their hand out once more.</p>
<p>In their leather clad mitt, they held out what looked to be a small phone ornament. A small head of what looked to be…</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>
  <em> No. </em>
</p>
<p>“I-Is that… the Eva-01?” Amaya asked with genuine shock overtaking their entire face.</p>
<p>If there was one thing that Amaya never wished to tell anybody, apart from her interests in manga, it was this.</p>
<p>She was a diehard Mecha fan. And she had just found another.</p>
<p>“...Oh my god.”</p>
<p>Constanze blushed, but a genuine smile showed on their face along with it. Amaya quickly took the ornament, and found a perfect place to hook it to her phone’s case. She certainly had plenty of stories to tell later. But, before Amaya made too much of a judgement on this person, she decided to test the waters.</p>
<p>Time to flex her vocal cords a bit.</p>
<p>“<em> Zankoku na tenshi no you ni... Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare…” </em></p>
<p>She watched as Constanze was confused for only a moment, until their eyes grew wide at the realization of what she was singing.</p>
<p>This had to be a dream, because she quickly took out her robot once more, and it began playing the instrumentals of a <em> Cruel Angel’s Thesis </em>over it’s speakers. This was absolutely about to happen and it was going to be in front of an audience.</p>
<p>She was going to join that music club right after this public display of nerdiness. And at this point she didn’t care who saw.</p>
<p>She was about to be herself, the person she longed to be. Someone who can enjoy being herself around those who care about them, someone who can enjoy both what they like and be around others who did as well, or at least cared enough to let what would happen, happen.</p>
<p>As the song ramped up, Amaya couldn’t hold back the childish giggles that sprouted out of her, and she began to slowly sway in tune with the song.</p>
<p>There was no need to hold back what was locked away anymore.</p>
<p>Many other students began to turn towards the obviously forgein music now blasting out from one corner of the room, and two girls slowly dancing to the melody, and one of them singing perfectly in tune with the song, and with an eloquent voice to match.</p>
<p>“<em>Aoi kaze ga ima mune no doa wo tataitemo... Watashi dake wo tada mitsumete, Hohoenderu Anata...” </em></p>
<p>All heads were turned their way, watching the clearly japanese student sing in her own tongue to a song nobody really understood, or at least chose to admit they didn’t know. Dancing on their heels to the catchy melody, along with a much smaller witch and a tiny robot following along, looking very pleased with what’s happening.</p>
<p>On the oher end of the room, however, three witches were very confused as to what was happening.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Today has been a busy and boring day for Atsuko Kagari.</p>
<p>The excitement of yesterday faded away only slightly to the melancholy of walking around a ton, but she was lucky she at least had people to talk to.</p>
<p>“No no, I disagree. Words alone can’t convey all the message you need in a story, sometimes images help a ton!” Akko exclaimed with animated hand gestures to Lotte, who had been in a heated debate with her friend over the topic of ‘Manga VS Book.’</p>
<p>The three had gotten to know each other even better today, which was a massive plus in Akko’s book. She talked to them about Chariot a ton, but before long shifted just to things that happened in her life and once again gushing about the things she likes. Along the way, Akko somehow managed to instigate a friendly debate with her Finnish friend about the superiority of storytelling media.</p>
<p>“I get that, but words can do so much more than just images, Akko! You get to make that image in your head and develop your own interpretation of the world, images and comics can only keep it the same throughout!” Lotte shot back, trying her best to not be too loud with it.</p>
<p>Sucy kept quiet and reserved for the most part, reading out directions when needed, but enjoyed the company nonetheless. She wasn’t one to talk too much, let alone about books, so she chose to just make a few personal comments when she wanted to and stuck to the map.</p>
<p>The two only continued to debate as they walked down the halls, only gathering a few wandering eyes towards their direction. Finally making their way deep into the school, they arrived at what was described as the “Tailory,” an on-school-grounds joint clothes washing area and tailor. </p>
<p>Sucy cleared her throat. “Hey, can you two shut up now? We’re here.” She told the two, instantly snapping the witches away from their argument.</p>
<p>Akko let out a quiet gasp as she walked through the arches separating the hall from the tailory, a large room stuffed with various magical tools for cleaning, large racks of hanging clothes, and many sparkling faeries and what looked to be goblins alike acting as workers, all wearing what looked to be a Luna Nova branded uniform, a simple jumpsuit and cap combo.</p>
<p>Sucy led the group into the room, and stood behind a fair amount of witches in what looked to be a line to the Tailor. </p>
<p>The brunette gawked at the sheer scale of the operation going on around her. “Do they just make the clothes here? It’s so cool…”</p>
<p>Lotte adjusted her glasses and looked around the room as well. “Yeah, apparently it’s cheaper to just make things like this in-house. The same can’t be said for magical item repair, though.”</p>
<p>Out of all things today, Akko was at least happy the tailor’s line was moving fast. It still took a fair bit of time, but after what felt like nearly half an hour of waiting, it was finally their turn. Sucy picked up her propper uniform, followed by Lotte doing the same, leaving Akko to fend for herself</p>
<p>The tailor was a tall and gruff Ox looking man, having facial hair that twisted like a spiral down to what looked to be a covering for the hair at the end made of brass. He had small spectacles that just barely fit over his eyes, as well as curling horns that twisted around multiple times.</p>
<p>Dressed in a fancy greyish suit, he sat there tapping away at multiple monitors, likely doing some tailor-y stuff.</p>
<p>Akko cleared her throat to signify that she was there, and the Ox man looked up at her with his strange green eyes.</p>
<p>“Hello! My name is Atsuko, Atsuko Kagari, and I-”</p>
<p>“Yes, I have your uniform here, Miss Kagari.”</p>
<p>She blinked. She didn’t remember filling out any forms or anything related to what would be submitting her dimensions for tailory, or whatever it is that she would have to do to get clothes measured.</p>
<p>The Ox man walked away to the back rows of clothes, and used his large mitt like hands to swifty scroll the racks, until quickly stopping it and pulling out a uniform.</p>
<p>“Your Mother submitted the measurements, put in a note saying you likely forgot about it. You’re certainly lucky you didn’t need to spend an hour here getting measured and tested for allergic reactions.”</p>
<p>“Th-That would’ve happened…?” Akko squeaked.</p>
<p>“These things are made of special materials, kid. You’re lucky you’re not somehow allergic or break out in hives in any clothing.” He responded with a loud huff, and handed Akko her uniform that was quickly wrapped up in a velvet parcel. “Fixes aren’t free either.”</p>
<p>“A-Ah, okay…” Akko squeaked again, now slowly shifting to the side. “Th-Thank you very much, Mr. Tailor…”</p>
<p>He only huffed his acknowledgement with a much more audible, and even visible version, as small spouts of steam came out of his bovine snout.</p>
<p>The brunette joined back up with her group, forgetting all about the previous interaction and held the uniform close to her person. “One step closer to becoming a witch!”</p>
<p>Lotte smiled, and Sucy just stared, before speaking up. “We still need textbooks, and club registrations if we want.”</p>
<p>Akko at this point couldn’t help but groan in despair, having quickly forgotten about the fact that there was, in fact, more to do today still. “Okay… Can we go see clubs first, then? Textbooks can wait till later…”</p>
<p>Sucy just shrugged. “Sure, beats having to walk around a dusty library right after walking around in a dusty tailory.”</p>
<p>“Thank god…” Akko exclaimed with a fairly audible sigh, which earned a fair amount of snickers from the surrounding witches in the tailory, but she didn’t really care.</p>
<p>The group started once again walking through the halls after a quick stop to change into their school uniforms. It wasn’t required, but everybody began doing it, so they all at that point subconsciously agreed with it. It helped with identifying people at the very least.</p>
<p>So with their matching crimson sashes around their waists, they walked as a unit to the General Hall to check out all the various clubs the school had to offer.</p>
<p>It took only one moment before Akko began gawking at the large room, but was quickly smacked on the back of the head by Sucy out of the blue, snapping them out of their trance.</p>
<p>“H-Hey, the heck was that for?!” Akko exclaimed, holding her hands to the back of her head.</p>
<p>“If you spend any more time looking wide-eyed at every large room in this school, I am <em> going </em> to get a severe headache.”</p>
<p>Lotte looked on at the two with a hint of worry, but it was quickly discarded as Akko quickly recovered and sent Sucy a mocking expression, sticking their tongue out them like a kid would.</p>
<p>“Hey, I can’t help it, this is all new to me!”</p>
<p>“I know, but you can at least keep it to yourself.”</p>
<p>“Hey, I-”</p>
<p>The group went silent as they all suddenly began to hear music fill the room. Not very audible, but loud enough to be heard regardless. Something was happening somewhere in this large hall.</p>
<p>Sucy and Lotte looked undisturbed and confused respectively, but they both turned their attention to the japanese witch who perked up as they listened in more intently.</p>
<p>Someone was starting to sing japanese. The room was loud, but she could discern her native tongue anywhere. And at that rate, she already began to figure out <em> what </em>they were singing as well, as in her infinite knowledge of the japanese arts and literature, there’s only one song that could be. She didn’t really know exactly where it came from, but it was no doubt popular in both her own country and a fair bit here as well. And she had to be honest with herself, the lyrics were too catchy to not get stuck in her head for years on end.</p>
<p>“Guys, we gotta check out that singing!” Akko quickly exclaimed, giving her friends no chance to react as she dashed ahead, leaving them to pick up the slack as they attempted to follow the brunette.</p>
<p>“A-Akko, slow down!” Lotte called out, just behind Sucy who was somehow making quick pace with no visual cues of exertion.</p>
<p>Skidding to a stop, Akko managed to make her way right on the verge of the crowd to the center of attention. Lotte and Sucy following close behind, the three stared wide eyed at what was happening right before them.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Watashi dake wo tada mitsumete, Hohoenderu Anata...” </em>
</p>
<p>Amaya was singing and lightly dancing along with the beat of what sounded to the other witches like a japanese pop song, along with what looked to be a… tiny robot playing the music next to a small witch wearing engineering goggles and gloves? To anyone else they would’ve had no idea at all what was happening, but Akko could easily understand <em> exactly </em>what this was. </p>
<p>A fellow Japanese girl singing and dancing along to one of her favorite anime openings, and just so happened to have encountered someone who knew exactly what it was too.</p>
<p>Seeing the absolute perfect opportunity to both impress and grow closer to her friend in arms, Akko practically jumped into the middle of the group, and started singing along with Amaya, using her best singing voice as possible.</p>
<p>“<em> Sotto... Fureru mono, motomeru koto ni muchuu de, Unmei sae mada shiranai itaike na hitomi!! </em>”</p>
<p>The other two witches were startled, Amaya especially at the sudden interjection, but Akko didn’t expect it to almost immediately mellow out as they watched her join in to both song and dance. Amaya could only chuckle as she let the brunette continue.</p>
<p>“<em> Dakedo itsuka kizuku deshou, sono senaka ni wa... Haruka mirai mezasu tame no hane ga aru koto… </em>”</p>
<p>The two witches in unison waltzed their way close to each other as they embarrassingly attempted to match their movements in key with the song, but despite how weird it was to see to everybody else, it was a surprisingly intimate moment to the two of them that only they could share. An understanding of both lyrics and a mutual enjoyment of the media of where it came from.</p>
<p>The music ramped up in intensity, and the two japanese witches started to sing the last part in unison.</p>
<p>“<em> Zankoku na tenshi no tēze, madobe kara yagate tobitatsu- Hotobashiru atsui patosu de, omoide wo uragiru nara! Kono sora wo daite kagayaku, shounen yo, shinwa ni nare!! </em>”</p>
<p>The two stopped in unison with their heels outturned at the climax of the song, striking some sort of pose as they stood there, effectively finally taking in what just happened.</p>
<p>They sang and danced a song few would likely even understand in front of nearly all the student body, without any form of care in the world.</p>
<p>What Akko completely forgot about though, was a third witch was with them, the one who was playing the music in the first place. Completely stunned, all she could do was stare wide eyed at the pair while her accompanying robot started to enthusiastically clap for them, which Constanze quickly followed up with as well.</p>
<p>Next thing they knew, Lotte out on the sidelines joined in as well, followed by a very confused Sucy having no other choice but to support her nerdy roommates, and lightly clapped as well.</p>
<p>Nobody really in the room understood whatever the hell just happened, but it didn’t stop the entire Music club’s small conglomerate to begin cheering and clapping from somewhere deeper in the crowd.</p>
<p>The rest of the room was stunned into absolute silence as the two japanese witches ended up breaking out in intense, hearty laughter, over all the loud clapping from the over-zealous music club, and the few others who decided to actually clap with them.</p>
<p>Neither of them expected that out of all things to come from today, they would be giving a live singing performance in an entirely forgein language.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>“Holy shit…” Amanda exclaimed as she walked in on a large crowd gathered around two singing and dancing girls, spouting something in their own native tongue.</p>
<p>But, it was at least easy for Amanda to discern the tiny witch dancing with them, as well as the voice that belonged to her newly acquired friend of the Red Coven, Amaya Hisa.</p>
<p>She slowly jauntered her way through the crowd until she managed to get close enough to actually see what was happening, and it was honestly as funny as it was dorky and enrapturing.</p>
<p>Her new friend was singing and dancing along with the song that Constanze wouldn’t stop playing one day when they were younger, only to find out it was the theme song to this old japanese anime she discovered one day looking into what she told them was “Mecha.” Amanda always knew that the small German witch had interesting tastes in what she likes to watch, considering her affinity with electronics it wasn’t <em> that surprising </em> that one of those things included people piloting giant robots to fight giant monsters or in some cases other giant robots, but she never really expressed as much towards anybody else</p>
<p>Until now, anyways, as she was clearly having fun dancing along with these two other girls who could actually join in.</p>
<p>Amanda had half a mind to at least join in with the dance, but at that point it would just be intruding upon what looked like to her an intimate moment with fellow Covenmates, and what looked to be a blossoming friendship from Constanze to Amaya, so she just stood and watched with a grin from the side.</p>
<p>It did not stop her from snapping along with the beat however.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>After the crowd finally managed to disperse, the japanese witches were surprised by their Finnish Covenmate jumping out of the blue to wrap her arms around both the witches in a grip that just did not seem possible to come from someone like her. </p>
<p>“I-I didn’t understand any of it, but that was absolutely amazing you guys!” She told them with a squeal, very impressed with their performance. “I didn’t know you guys could sing so well!”</p>
<p>“Hey, I wasn’t even confident in my singing, but Ami you sing like a pro!” Akko exclaimed with a wide grin, patting Ami on the back with her somehow still free arm.</p>
<p>“Thanks, guys…” Was all the raven-haired witch could say while she was trapped in the surprise vice-grip that was Lotte at the moment, whom she tried to gather her attention by patting her on the back.</p>
<p>Lotte took the hint and let go of the two with a small chuckle. “R-Right, sorry…”</p>
<p>The lavender-haired witch walked forward to the group with a smile on her face. “I really didn’t get what was happening at all, but I think you did good at least.”</p>
<p>“Aww, thanks, Sucy!” Akko responded with a wide, childish grin.</p>
<p>Sucy just looked at them with a dead stare. “I meant Amaya, not you.”</p>
<p>“H-Hey, I did some singing too, you know!” The brunette shot back, with an overexaggerated pout. She tried to give Sucy whatever form of stare would work against someone like them, but when she looked back all she saw was a playful grin on the Fillipino’s face.</p>
<p>It took a moment for it to register to them that out of the people in the crowd, two people stood still around them. One Akko had no idea who they were, being a flaming haired witch with a green sash, and the other being the tiny engineer witch who also had been a member of the Green Coven. It was then that the previously mentioned flaming haired girl began to walk over towards the group.</p>
<p>“I take off for like, 20 minutes and you do something cool without me? What the hell, man!” They exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Ami’s shoulders and giving her a soft noogie on the head. It was entirely random to the receiving witch, but she didn’t really do anything other than lightly blush and look down at the floor.</p>
<p>“Hey, you even made friends with Conz too, you gotta be like some sort of T.V. show protagonist or something!”</p>
<p>Ami only blushed harder as she stammered out something incomprehensible in japanese- which was surprising because Akko actually lived that language.</p>
<p>“Excuse me, but who are you guys?” The brunette asked the Green Coven girls, to which they both looked at her.</p>
<p>“Amanda O'Neill, and this one over here is Constanze,” she motioned with her foot at the tinier witch. “She can’t exactly talk, so I kinda just translate.”</p>
<p>Constanze nodded, and picked up her tiny robot and hoisted it onto her shoulder. To the group’s surprise other than Amanda, it began speaking.</p>
<p>“Hello there, strangers.” It spoke with a monotonous robotic voice that gave Sucy’s own tone a run for her money. “I am Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank Albrechtsberger. It is a pleasure.”</p>
<p>The tiny witch nodded again, but her expression didn’t shift at all.</p>
<p>“Woah, so you can talk with that tiny robot?” Akko leaned in. “That’s so cool!”</p>
<p>A loud snap came through the room as the group turned to face the source of the noise, that source being Sucy. “I think we can talk later, we still have stuff to do today.” </p>
<p>“Oh, you’re right!” Lotte exclaimed with surprise. “We still gotta get books and unpack left to do!”</p>
<p>“Hey, you guys need to get your books still?” Amanda cherped up. “I haven’t gotten mine yet, why don’t we go together then, eh?”</p>
<p>And at that point onward, the Red and Green Covens formed a close bond. The group at that point unanimously agreed to continue about their days as a unit, only needing to make one quick stop to the Green Coven’s dorm room 106.</p>
<p>“We gotta pick up one more person, a friend of mine and Conz’.”</p>
<p>Amanda knocked on the door with a fairly fast series of knocks, and the door was almost immediately answered by a very friendly looking witch holding a bag of chips.</p>
<p>Looking only a few centimeters taller than Akko, the slightly pudgy girl had her face stuck in what looked to be an eternal happy-go-lucky smile, her hair tied in long twin braids in the back along with a few frontward arcing bangs in a very light pink color. The hair being slightly wispy, it looked like she was practically wearing Cotton Candy as a long and intricate wig.</p>
<p>“Oh my, look at all these people!” She exclaimed with a practiced, but still slightly thick english accent.”</p>
<p>“Heya, Jas. I met a bunch of people and we were about to get our books and stuff from the library, wanna come with?” Amanda asked, relaxing herself with her hands behind her head.</p>
<p>“I already got my things earlier, but sure!” She responded back. “Making new friends is always fun!”</p>
<p>“Cool!”</p>
<p>With that, the now fully assembled group made their way towards the schools slightly-famous library according to the local knowledgeable Lotte.</p>
<p>Akko had to admit, the group felt like a very well defined unit of people at this point. Plenty of friends to go around as well! They all seemed perfectly nice and friendly, the newly acquired Jasminka especially, because she wouldn’t stop offering up all kinds of sweets to the various members of the group. It was strange at first, but they somehow all got used to it fairly quickly.</p>
<p>Being within a large group was honestly sort of comforting as well for Amaya. She hadn’t really ever bothered with friends all too much, let alone groups. So suddenly being up 6 new people to get along with and 3 of them specifically more so due to the fact that they would be sleeping in the same room, it was a very surreal and interesting experience for her. One she happily accepted.</p>
<p>She, however, couldn’t fully accept one part of this whole new event going on.</p>
<p>As much as she hated to admit it to herself, she truly felt worried. She still had <em> that </em>secret she needed to tell, and now she’d likely need to with even more people now.</p>
<p>It’s not that big of a deal, if you’re scared you just had to push on through. That’s what she was told.</p>
<p>But, how in the world would she ever go about telling all these people that she wasn't born a girl of all things? That would surely end up causing some sort of dissonance between them all, would it not?</p>
<p>Would they not resent her for that part of herself? Think of her as a freak?</p>
<p>She truly wished she didn’t think these things, but it was almost as second nature to their own self isolation to avoid things very topic- this issue.</p>
<p>Well, that’s for another time. Another day.</p>
<p>She had new friends to be with, after all. She had to enjoy them when she had them, right?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know I said that I would be making updates a bit shorter now, but I needed to get out one more hefty chapter! Hopefully I can start pacing things better from this point on, because the next chapter picks up right where this one leaves off, and I certainly hope you did enjoy this one as well!</p>
<p>I focused this one on Amaya because she's still relatively new, so I may as well introduce some things about them for you all to think about.</p>
<p>Online school in the meanwhile is already getting annoying, so I gotta write when I can, hehe...</p>
<p>The song used by the way, was "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" from Neon Genesis Evangelion.</p>
<p>I hope you have a very good rest of your day!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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